BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT. OF fl^ttrg W. Sage 1891 ^^^.^^Zc?..^ £^/.^o 6896-1 DATE DUE ■-5;_ ■| 1='-^) tS?— !• ' -^ ■^-fr ^j \u CAYLORO PRINTED IN U S A Cornell University Library HX696 .C96 Adventures in socialism olin 3 1924 030 362 721 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Il^EW LANARK ESTABLISHMENT AND ORBISTON COMMUNITY BY ALEX. CULLEN GLASGOW JOHN SMITH AND SON, LTD. LONDON: A. AND C. BLACK 1910 < September 1909. CON T E N T S INTRODUCTION PAGE Weaving in Scotland in the eighteenth century — Woollen goods — Development and decay of linen trade — Beginning of cotton industry — Introduction of machinery — Industrial Revolution . 1 NEW LANARK ESTABLISHMENT CHAPTER I Erection of cotton mill at New Lanark by Dale and Arkwright — Destruction of mill by fire, 1788 — Payment of workpeople during rebuilding — Dissolution of partnership — Blantyre mills — Sale to James Monteith ....... 7 CHAPTER II Scotland under the new conditions — Invention of power loom and steam engine — Labour at New Lanark — Employment of pa uper children ........... 18 CHAPTER III David Dale as a public benefactor— Robert Owen visits New Lanark — Sale of mills to new company . . . • . .19 CHAPTER IV Marriage of Owen to Miss Dale— Entry upon management of New Lanark — Social ideals— Sanitary and other reforms, and opposi- tion from workpeople — Inception of the Co-operative movement ^-Educational interests — Savings Bank — Benefit Society . . 25 vii ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER V PAGE Factory methods — Silent monitors^ etc. — U.S.A. embargo upon ex- portation of cotton — Payment of workpeople during stoppage of mills, 1806 — The education of the children — Opposition of partners — Dissolution of partnership — New company formed — The building of ' The Institution for the formation of Char- acter ' — Opposition of the new partners to educational schemes, and liberality towards the workpeople — Dissolution of the second partnership — Sale of mills, 18]. 3 — Ti-iumphal reception of Owen by workpeople ........ 34 CHAPTER VI The third company takes possession of the mills — Owen with a free hand^ His theory of education — The infan tjjchool — TIveJEiluca- tional Institute j)j)ened, 18JC ....... 4G CHAPTER VII The controlling of the children — Physical punishment discarded — Spirit of kindness instilled into children — Subjects taught and methods of tuition — Tribute by Pi'ofessor Huxley . . .53 CHAPTER VHI New Lanark a centre of attraction — Grand Duke Nicholas (after- wards Czar) of Russia and other distinguished visitors . . 65 CHAPTER IX Duke of Kent and Owen's schemes — Visit and report by Dr. Macnab on behalf of Duke of Kent — Report by Leeds Guardians of the Poor, 1819 70 CHAPTER X Owen's popularity on the wane — Opposition of ecclesiastical bodies — Partners visit New Lanark and object to Owen's methods — Changes enforced in school curriculum and the dress of children — Owen resigns active management of New Lanark, 1824 . . 78 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER XI PAGE The effects of the Industrial Revolution — Inception of Trades Unionism — Distress amongst the labouring poor — Assessment imposed for their support — The need of social reform — Owen's proposed scheme of unity and mutual co-operation . . .87 CHAPTER XII Owen's scheme rejected by Parliamentary Committee, 1817 — Appeal to the country through the Press — He attacks religious beliefs and meets with opposition — Proposes an amended scheme for social reform — Table of sects ...... 97 CHAPTER XIII Owen appeals to the working-classes — He stands for Parliament, 1819 — His friendship with the Duke of Kent — Appeal for sub- scriptions to commence village of unity and mutual co-opera- tion—Scheme again before Parliament . . . . .111 CHAPTER XIV Hospitality in a Scottish mansion-house — Owen communicates his plans to the County of Lanark — A. J. Hamilton proposes to let land at JVIotherwell for an experimental community . . . 124 CHAPTER XV Owen's report to the County of Lanark of a scheme to give per- manent employment to the labouring classes — Spade industry recommended — Labour to be the standard of value . . . 132 CHAPTER XVI Mode of governing the proposed communities — Education of the children — Military training in order to form a reserve army in case of war .......... 144 ix ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XVII PAGl Meeting of county gentlemen at Hamilton, 19th April 1821 —Owen further explains his scheme— Petition to Parliament to appoint a Commission to report on the measures — Opposition of Lord Belhaven 154 CHAPTER XVIII Petition before both houses of Parliament — Motion rejected without a division, June 1821 — Owen visits Ireland — Owen in America, 1824— New Harmony — Failure of communism — Proposed com- munity in Texas — Queenwood Establishment, Hampshire — Harmony Hall — Owen lectures throughout the country — His death, ITth October 1858 161 ORBISTON COMMUNITY CHAPTER XIX The County of Lanark withdraws from the project of founding a social community — Owen and A. J. Hamilton take up the scheme — Failure through want of public support — The British and Foreign Philanthropic Society, with Owen at its head, con- tinues the project — Issue of prospectus of a loan of £100,000 for an establishment at Motherwell — The scheme abandoned . 171 CHAPTER XX Archibald James Hamilton and Abram Combe establish a Co-opera- tive Society and a small community at Edinburgh — Hamilton and Combe resolve to try au experiment on a more extensive scale — Purchase of the Orbiston estate— Founding of the Orbiston Community — Owen declines to take part in the scheme ........... 180 CONTENTS CHAPTER XXI PAGE Archibald James Hamilton joins the army — Takes part in the battle of 'Waterloo — Letter describing the battle — Leaves the army and becomes farmer — Meeting with Owen at Dalzell House — Becomes a Socialist — Protests against the raising of corps of yeomen to keep starving operatives in subjection — Attends Edinburgh University — Boyhood of Abram Combe — Combe sets up in business as a tanner — Visits New Lanark — Becomes imbued with Owen's doctrine of the ' New Views ' — Writes pamphlets on social and political subjects — Takes up residence at Orbiston 187 CHAPTER XXII The Articles of Agreement of the Orbiston Company — Commence- ment of building operations — Description of the proposed establishment — Meeting of proprietors — They resolve to pro- ceed with the erection of workshops — Old Scottish building customs — Alleged whistling on Sunday — Complaints by the clergy — Orbiston designated ' Babylon ' . . . . . 204 CHAPTER XXIII The publication of the Orbiston Register — Unfavourable reception of the Register by the public — Misleading reports of ' Babylon ' by outsiders — Forming the Society of Tenants — Rules and Regula- tions 214 CHAPTER XXIV The Society take building operations into their own hands — First Socialistic community in Britain begin operations — Description of the members gathered at Orbiston — The public mess — Division into two classes — Discontent — The arrangement given up after a month's trial — Want of energy in some of the members — Captain O'Brien recommends the dismissal of the unsatisfactory .......... 223 xi ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XXV FAOE Combe satisfied with the class of members as likely to prove au effectual test of the system — Iron foundry erected — Success of foundry — Jealousy of the members of the other departments — The Orbiston Press (Printers) established — Brighter prospects — Formation of an instrumental band — Visit of Hamilton Parish Band to Orbiston — New members enter the establishment — Combe propounds the economic basis of the ' New System ' — His popularity on the decline— He retires to Edinburgh in ill health 229 CHAPTER XXVI A. .1. Hamilton takes over part of the management — Henry Kirk- patrick, editor of the Orbiston Register, advocates community of property — Dissensions among the members — The Foundry Company object to communism — Meeting of proprietors — The question discussed — Letters from Combe — Proprietors decide that members be readmitted by ballot before allowing com- munism — The ballot — The establishment taken over at a fixed rent — Beginning of communism ...... 239 CHAPTER XXVII Inauguration of the principles of mutual co-operation and equal distribution — Letter of gratitude from the community to Abram Combe — Appointment Jof William Combe as vice-president — Want of co-operation among the members — Impending trouble — Letter from Captain O'Brien on the affairs of the community — The economic systems in operation compared — Issue of a public circular to make known the products of the community . 254 CHAPTER XXVIII The community rearranged in departments — Reports on farming operations, the iron foundry, etc. — Printing of the supplement to Anderson's House of Hamilton by Orbiston Press — Female labour — Making of chip and straw hats — Tambouring — Erection of gas works begun — Tools stolen from the workshop . . 269 xii CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIX PAGE The system ol education — Parents dissatisfied — Sunday Evening Lectures — The Theatre — Performance of The Gentle Shepherd and The Soldier's Return — Theatre made an opportunity by local clergy to ban the establishment — Reading- Room and Library instituted — Forms of religious worship — The Badger Inn, Ferniegair ......... 277 CHAPTER XXX Proprietors disappointed at the want of unity displayed — Improved water supply and drainage — Better orderprevails in the establish- ment — Return to the principle of dining in common — Statement of the weekly consumpt of food — The members who absent themselves from common table accused of carrying victuals out of the establishment — The stock in the store reduced — Defici- ency of capital — Members begin to lose faith in the ' New System/ and leave Orbiston — Sale of Foundry Company stock — The affairs of the community assume a serious aspect — Spread of unfavourable reports — Proprietors decline to advance further sums — Raising of the rate of interest on the loans from S^ per cent, to 5 per cent. — Second anniversary of the founding of the community 290 CHAPTER XXXI Social life of the community— Visitors to Orbiston — Inquiry by Com- mittee of Management into the working of the several depart- ments — The deathblow to communism — Work given out by the piece — Death of Abram Combe, 1827— A. J. Hamilton declines to take further interest in the undertaking — Creditors press for payment — The experiment abandoned as a dismal failure — Reasons of the failure — Letter from A. Paul to A. J, Hamilton — The wife and family of Abram Combe left destitute . . 303 CHAPTER XXXII The trusteeship of the Orbiston Company conveyed to Hamilton, Paul, and Watson — Futile attempts to sell the establishment — The mortgagers apply to the Court to order a sale of the lands Alexander Paul appointed factor — The case before the Court xiii ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM PAGE of Session — Evidence as to the selling and rental value of the estate — Sale of the lands and buildings to Mrs. Douglass of Douglass Park — Unequal division of the price among the creditors — The congregation of Bothwell Church worship in the deserted halls of the ' Babylonians ' — The destruction of the buildings — Nothing left standing — The appeal for social reform no new claim, but dates back to Socrates and Plato — Rousseau and the French Revolution — Birth of Democracy and Socialism — The teaching of Robert Owen compared with the theories of modern Socialism — True Socialism evolution, not revolution — Some Socialistic ideals already realised — The upward tendency of social reform — Hope for the future — An aristocracy of char- acter and intellect ......... 316 XIV ILLUSTRATIONS DAVID DALE .... Photoyvavure facing page 10 From a Tassle Medallion. ROBERT OWEN . . . „ „ 46 From an Engraving aflcr the portrait hi/ W. H. Brooke, A.R.H.A. NEW LANARK . . . . „ „ 76 From a conte'm2:>orar>f Engraving. ARCHIBALD JAMES HAMILTON, Yr. OF DALZELL . . . „ ,,193 Frora the 2'->ort rait in Dalzelt Ho-in^e. ORBISTON ESTABLISHMENT . Lithograph „ 206 Compiled from an old print. XV ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM INTRODUCTION The closing years of the eighteenth century marked an important epoch in the industrial history of Scotland. At that period hand labour in manufacture began to give way to machinery, an event which has led to economic and social changes of a far-reaching nature. For previous generations the staple industry of the country had been the manufacture of woollen goods by means of the rock and reel and the hand- loom. The wool was obtained from the fleeces of the scantily fed sheep, spun into yarn, and after- wards woven into blankets, plaidings, and hodden gray. The stuffs so manufactm-ed were, however, coarse in texture, and could not compete with the finer quality of the English fabrics. Neither could Scotland, on any pretext, trade with the English colonies. The outlet for Scottish goods, therefore, was confined to the home markets. Under the circumstances, and with a view of protecting the woollen industry of the coimtry, the Scottish Parliament passed an Act prohibiting the importation of woollen goods of English manu- facture. England, on the other hand, retaliated ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM and imposed a large import duty on Scottish linen. In consequence, the trade in linen which had been growing up between the two countries gradually declined until the Union of Parliaments in 1707. Although, at the time, the Union was denounced as being destructive of Scottish independence, yet it brought many advantages to Scotland. As a result the English markets were thrown open to Scottish goods, and the embargo against trading with the English colonies was removed. This gave a new impulse to the industrial life of the country, and within a few years Scotland had acquired a large and prosperous linen trade. In course of time, every available piece of ground attached to laird's house, minister's glebe, and poor man's cottage was utilised for growing flax, and in almost every village could be heard the whir of the spinning-wheel ^ and the clack-clack of the weaver's loom. In such occupation a whole family would often be engaged, the father and grown-up sons at the loom, with the mother and younger children at the wheel. By this system of combined industry the people lived happily and con- tentedly. Linen soon became a national industry ; but the supply of home-grown flax could no longer meet the increasing demand, and large quantities of the material were brought from the Baltic. There being no further need to confine the manu- facture to rural districts, the industry, to a con- siderable extent, passed from the villages to the 1 The old rock and reel had been discarded by 1730. 2 INTRODUCTION towns, and from the hands of the individual worker into those of the capitaUst. In the country towns merchants set up business in the hnen trade, where they erected weaving looms. They also engaged packmen to tramp the country districts in order to give out flax to spin, and afterwards collect the yarn to be woven into checks and sheetings. The capitalist not only provided the raw materials, but also in some cases bought back the finished goods from the village weaver, and re-sold them at a substantial profit. Amongst those so engaged tramping the country was one named David Dale, who had been a herd boy at Stewarton in Ayrshire, but did not remain long in that occupation. The prosperous trade of weaving attracted him from tending the sheep on the hillside to the town of Paisley, where he was apprenticed to the weaving. For some time he worked at his trade, first in Hamilton, then at Cambuslang. In turn he tired of weaving, and deserted the loom to become packman ; thereby gaining knowledge and experi- ence which proved valuable in his future career. David Dale, however, had higher ambitions than tramping the country with a pack, and in 1763 he embarked as a merchant in the linen trade, setting up business in the High Street of Glasgow in partnership with Mr. Archibald Paterson, under the name of David Dale and Co. — Mr. Paterson being the moneyed partner.^ From the outset the 1 Glasgow Past and Present, Vol. III. p. 337. 3 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM company was successful, and the business was further developed by importing linen from Holland. As trade increased so also did the capital of the firm, and David Dale, for the first time, experienced the uneasy feeling of having money at his command, and he gave way to the human weakness of striving to gain more, perhaps by somewhat questionable means. Paterson, although taking no active part in the management of the business, had supphed the money necessary to establish the company; but Dale, perceiving that the concern was successful and likely to expand, designed to get rid of his partner and to assume the business on his own account. The firm was accordingly dissolved on the 24th May 1782, intimation of which appeared in the Glasgow Journal of that date.^ Paterson naturally thought it sharp practice on the part of David Dale to dissolve the partnership when the business was growing and proving lucrative ; Dale, on the other hand, wished to take the tide at the flood, and that without hindrance. In this manner was David Dale borne on to fortune, or, as he him- self quaintly puts it, ' This was the first move that put marrow in my bones.' The linen trade, however, was on the wane, owing mainly to the importation of large quantities of raw cotton from America and the West Indies ; and the manufacture of cotton goods became the chief industry of the country. 1 Irving's Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, Vol. II. p. 381. 4 INTRODUCTION While the cotton trade increased so did the desire to produce goods more quickly and in larger quan- tities. Attention was, therefore, directed to the invention of machines that could save labour and increase the output of manufactured goods. The old spinning-wheel could only spin one thread at a time, and the process was so slow that it required the work of six wheels to keep a loom fully occupied. The want of sufficient yarn to maintain his loom in operation led Hargreaves, a Lancashire weaver, to invent a machine capable of spinning several threads at once and of a finer quality than could be spun by the old method. He named the machine the ' Jenny ' after his wife. A few years later Arkwright invented a spinning machine to be driven by water power. By this means several of the machines could be turned at one time. Compton ultimately combined the merits of both of these machines in the ' Mule,' an inven- tion that gave a decided impetus to manufacture. David Dale, being a shrewd and far-seeing man of business, anticipated from these inventions that hand labour would be soon displaced by machinery, and he was anxious to set up a mill for the spinning of cotton. It was not long till he found opportunities for the exercise of his ambition. NEW LANARK CHAPTER I Richard Arkwkight, afterwards Sir Richard, whose invention had not been appreciated in England, came to Scotland in the year 1783, in order to make known his spinning machine, and was entertained to dinner in Glasgow by the principal manufacturers of the city. Dale, being present at the meeting, was introduced to Arkwright. The merits of the water-frame naturally formed the subject of conversation between the two, with the result that Dale resolved to test the machine. A few days afterwards Dale and Arkwright went to the Falls of Clyde at Lanark, with a view of selecting a site on which to erect mills for cotton spinning. They were attracted by the natural beauty of the valley, and by the convenient manner in which they thought that the water of the Clyde could be utilised in driving the machinery. A site was selected on Braxfield estate on the north-east bank of the Clyde, a little below the entrance to Corra Linn Falls,^ and satisfactory terms arranged with the proprietor, the Lord- ^ Irving's Upper Ward of Lanarkshire , Vol. II. p. 382. 7 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Justice- Clerk, Macqueen of Braxfield, known in his day as the ' Hanging Judge,' and now made still more famous by R. L. Stevenson in Weir of Hermiston. Building operations were commenced, with Dale and Arkwright as partners; Dale furnishing the money, while Arkwright's contribution consisted of the right to use his machine. By the year 1785 the mill started operations, and, for the first time in Scotland, Arkwright's patent machine was put into use. The enterprise proving successful, Dale proceeded at once with the erection of a second mil], but when nearing completion on 9th October 1788 the first mill was accidentally burned to the ground. By this mishap about two hundred and fifty persons were thrown out of employment. When the news reached Dale in Glasgow he at once hastened to New Lanark. On his arrival he found the workpeople gathered round the ruined building lamenting their hard lot, as they expected to be tm-ned adrift on the world. When David Dale saw the burned mill he said with composure, ' Aweel, aweel, it 's but world's gear, let it gang. You 've helped me to muckle siller by your labour ; and I can well afford to spend some of it in taking care of you till the mill 's built and started again. You will bide where you are till then. I '11 employ as many of you as I can in clearing the rubbish and other jobs, and I '11 pay you the same wages as you 've had till NEW LANARK now. And see and be gude bairns till you can go to work again.' ^ After the mill was rebuilt, it was some time before the new machinery could be fitted up, as the demand at that time for machines far exceeded the supply ; and before the operatives were back to work about £2000 had been spent in wages. No wonder that in after years the villagers cherished the memory of ' Gude David Dale.' When Arkwright visited the newly erected mills he was accompanied by Dale, who led him to a place where a commanding view could be obtained of the establishment. Down in the valley were large factory buildings and rows of dwelling houses with garden patches, and the rippling water of the Clyde winding its way between the steep wooded banks. ' How do you like the place ? ' asked Dale. ' It 's a spot in a thousand,' was Arkwright's reply. When they descended to the village, Arkwright, with a critical eye, made an inspection of the whole estabhshment. At the factory building he was attracted by a wooden belfry which had been placed on the end. Tvirning to Dale he said, ' What reasons had you for putting the bell at the end and not in the centre of the building ? ' And further added, ' The idea is so absurd.' ' I put the bell in the place I considered the most convenient,' was Dale's reply; 'And there is nae use giving you my reasons.' 1 Threading My Way, p. 15. 9 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM ' Well,' said Arkwright, ' any man with a blind eye would have known better.' This was too much for David Dale, for, like other men who had struggled through difficulties to success, he liked his own way and could not brook interference or contradiction. ' If that is your opinion,' rephed Dale, ' I don't care to have further connections with a man who gets peppery over such trifles.' ' Neither do I,' said Arkwright with some warmth ; ' but there is one thing we might agree about. I 'm ready to sell out to-night.' ' Very well, very well,' was Dale's quiet reply. ' Let us go back to the hotel at Lanark, get something to eat and a glass of toddy, and I dare say we can hit it aff at ween us.' ^ That evening David Dale severed his partnership with Richard Arkwright, and became the sole proprietor of the village and mills of New Lanark. Being now free to act on his own responsibility, he at once set about the further extension of the mills and building additional dwellings for the operatives, thereby preparing the way for the future experiments in social reformation as prac- tised at New Lanark. Dale's next venture was at Blantyre. There he erected mills for the spinning of cotton yarn, the machinery being driven by water power from the Clyde. In addition to the spinning there was carried on the operation of the dyeing of cotton yarns of ^ Threading My Way, pp. 8-9. lO ^.^U-^^i^-^ .^^-a.-^. FROM A TASSIE MEDALLION. NEW LANARK the shade called ' Tiirkey Red.' This system of dye was introduced by a French chemist, M. Papillion, through the influence of Dale and a Mr. Macintosh.^ David Dale soon became a prosperous man, and, being desirous of devoting more time to his New Lanark schemes, sold Blantyre mills to Mr. James Monteith in the year 1792 at what was considered a fair price. But the transaction had scarcely been concluded when the French Revolu- tionary War broke out, to be followed immediately by the disastrous commercial crisis of 1793. Monteith felt that, under the circumstances, to carry out the terms of the bargain meant ruin to him, so in despair he entreated Mr. Dale to annul the sale of the Blantyre mills. Dale, however, sternly refused to free him from the engagement. In the face of this sea of troubles, Mr. Monteith took over the Blantyre mills. What was he to do ? The yarn he could not sell in the market unless at a serious loss. So through dire necessity he began to manufacture his own yarn into cloth and send it to London to be sold by auction. To Monteith's own surprise the venture proved to be a lucrative one, and in the course of five years he realised the handsome fortune of £80,000. Monteith took a deep interest in the welfare of the operatives at Blantyre. He built a village contiguous to the works, and provided church and school accommodation. Besides, he contributed ' Glasgow Past and Present, Vol. II. p. 51. II ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM annually towards a fund for the sick and poor among the workpeople. In this village the celebrated traveller and missionary, David Livingstone, was born, and dur- ing his boyhood worked in the mills as a piecer. 12 NEW LANARK CHAPTER II With the introduction of the machines of Ark- wright and Crompton the former relations between spinning and weaving were reversed. Each machine could produce as much yarn in a given time as two hundred cottage spinners, and, in consequence, the slow hand-looms were unable to weave the large quantity of yarn produced. Under the changed conditions many a spinning- wheel was, with regret, stored in the garret as lumber, to be taken out a century afterwards and used as a decorative featxire in the drawing-rooms of the rich. On the other hand, weaving looms that had lain idle since the decline of the woollen and linen trades were again set up. All avail- able spaces, such as barns, cart-sheds, and other out-buildings, were utilised as loom-shops. So great was the demand for cotton fabrics that every person capable of moving a treadle and driving a shuttle was put to a loom. Wages, therefore, increased, and families were enabled to earn from £3 to £5 a week. But notwithstanding the number of looms in operation they could not meet the demand, and, as a consequence, many efforts were put forth to 13 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM invent a weaving machine to be worked by mechani- cal means. Curiously enough, this invention was accom- plished by a Kentish clergyman, Edmund Cart- wright, who, hearing some workmen discuss the possibility of weaving by machinery, set to work, and in 1786 obtained a patent for a power-loom. The machine, however, was not put into active use until the early years of the nineteenth century. While Cartwright had invented a machine to displace the hand-loom, James Watt was slowly perfecting the steam engine, which was soon to take the place of the water wheel as a motive power, and in due time to revolutionise almost every branch of human industry. Such were the con- ditions of the cotton trade to which David Dale had to adapt himself at New Lanark. At first considerable difficulty was encountered in obtaining a sufficient number of operatives to work the mills. Dale, with a view of encouraging families to settle at New Lanark, built a munber of houses ; but the surrounding population was averse to indoor labour, even although the wages were better and the employment constant. So, few of the houses were occupied in the manner intended. At this juncture, 1791, the mill hands were largely recruited by two hundred highland emi- grants. The vessel which was conveying them from the Isle of Skye to North America was driven ty stress of weather into Greenock, and they were 14 NEW LANARK there left in a very destitute condition. Dale, hearing of the circumstances, offered employment to as many as liked to go to New Lanark, and the greater number of them accepted. Dale seemed satisfied with the Celts, because he afterwards made known in Argyllshire and the Isles the encouragement which would be given to families settling at New Lanark mills. By that means a number of additional families from Caithness, Inverness, and Argyll were attracted to the establishment and housed in a separate part of the village called Caithness Row.-^ Still there were not enough hands to work the mills, and the demand for cotton yarn was daily increas- ing. How could that demand be met ? This was how it was met by the cotton lords. When the cottage industry was in operation the children of the hand-loom weavers were employed for long hoiirs at the spinning-wheel. Why should children not be engaged in like manner in the mills ? The spinning machine, being driven by water power, required little attention, and the labour connected therewith was light. The atten- dant had only to keep the machine clean, and piece together the broken threads. This was a class of work which a child, with its nimble fingers, was well fitted to perform ; besides, the labour would be cheap and pliant. At New Lanark the number of children available was limited, and, in addition, many people were 1 Lockhart of Baronald, Statistical Account of Scot/and, Vol. XV. 15 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM reluctant to allow their children to enter the mills, because they considered such employment degrad- ing to the child of respectable parents. Under the circumstances, Dale had to look elsewhere for child-labour, and, as some of the English manufacturers were employing pauper children, he resorted to a similar source. He made application to the parochial authorities of Glasgow and Edinburgh for a supply of children from the poorhouses. His request was granted, the authorities being pleased to have their respec- tive parishes relieved of the responsibility of maintaining and educating pauper children. In order to provide the necessary accommodation at New Lanark a portion of the largest mill was set apart as a boarding-house for the children, who for their labour were maintained, educated, and clothed. The ages of the children when received averaged from five to eight years, and the period of apprentice- ship from seven to ten years. The hours of labour were from six a.m to sevenp.m., with only an interval of half an hour for breakfast and an hour for dinner, so that the children worked in the mills for eleven and a half hours per day. After supper school was attended until nine o'clock p.m., and classes were also held on Sunday for religious instruction. New Lanark was regarded as one of the most humanely conducted of factories, and the same fortunate conditions did not prevail in many other mills through the country, where i6 NEW LANARK very often the children worked longer hours, were badly housed, scantily fed, and poorly clad. At that time there was neither a Factory Act to regulate the hours of laboiir, nor a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Notwithstanding the provision made for the health, comfort, and education of the children at New Lanark, the long, weary hours of labour had an injurious effect on their health, and few were able to profit by the teaching received at the evening classes. Even Dale himself confessed that not more than ten per cent, of the children under his care could read and write. During the early years of the industrial revolu- tion the profits in a large establishment like New Lanark were fabulous. The quality of yarn which in 1815 sold for three shillings per povmd, brought as much as thirty shillings in the infancy of the manufactm-e. But David Dale's whole object in life was not that of money-making, for with the wealth he had accumulated he was generous to a fault. It is said that during his lifetime he gave away over £100,000 for benevolent purposes, and these acts of generosity were extended to the workpeople who helped to make his fortune. A visitor to New Lanark in 1796 thus describes its condition : ' Mr. Dale deserves well of his country, dispensing happiness and comfort to many of his fellow-creatvires by his attention, not only to their health, but to their morals, training them up in habits of industry, instructing them in the B i; ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM necessary branches of education, and instilling into their minds a knowledge of the important truths of Christianity. Fom- hundred children are entirely fed, clothed, and instructed at the expense of this venerable philanthropist. The rest live with their parents in most comfortable habitations, receiving wages for their labour. The health and happiness depicted on the countenances of their children show that the proprietor of the Lanark mills has remembered mercy in the midst of gain. ' The regulations here to preserve the health of body and mind present a striking contrast to those of most large manufactories in the kingdom, the very hotbeds of disease and contagion. ' It is a truth that ought to be engraved in letters of gold, to the eternal honour of the founder of New Lanark, that out of nearly three thousand children who have been at work in these mills throughout the period of twelve years, only fourteen have died, and not one has suffered criminal punishment.' ^ ' Threading My Way, p.' 35. r8 NEW LANARK CHAPTER III David Dale, besides being the sole proprietor of New Lanark Mills had interests in similar undertakings through the country. The strain of an arduous life had left its imprint in dimness of eye and stiffness of limb, and, at the age of sixty-one, he wished relief from his many responsi- bilities. In addition to his business engagements, Dale devoted himself to public and religious life. He was a magistrate of the City of Glasgow, and took an active part in Greyfriars Wynd Independent Church. Along with Mr. Ferrier, he assumed the joint-pastorship of the church, and preached there on Sundays, But the idea of a man not ' college- bred ' preaching in a kirk was most distasteful to many Scots people of that age, and Dale met with scant respect in that direction. In course of time he became better known in the city for his schemes of benevolence than for his religious professions. As an example, during the famine of 1798 he imported large quantities of food and retailed it to the poor at cost price, so that it came to be a saying among the poor that ' David Dale gave his money by shovelfuls, but God shovelled it back again.' New Lanark had given Dale most concern. It 19 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM was far removed from the city, and the coach joirrney was trying, with the result that he seldom visited the mills. For some time he had left the management in the hands of his half-brother, James Dale, and a Mr. Kelly, the inventor of a new spinning-] enny, which had been introduced into the mills. But Dale, not being satisfied with their administration, resolved to dispose of New Lanark. It is said that the opportimity waits the man. Here was an opportunity ; and the man appeared in the person of Robert Owen, a young man who, by his persevering industry, had raised himself from a poor shop-boy to be the manager of a large spinning mill at Chorlton, Lancashire. In addition to supervising the mills, Owen purchased the raw material and found a market for the produce. This duty caused him to visit Glasgow. During his first visit to that city he was, by a lady of his acquaintance, introduced to Miss Caroline Dale, eldest daughter of David Dale, the wealthy manu- facturer, — a meeting which shaped the destiny of Robert Owen and led the way to the schemes of social reform for which New Lanark was afterwards famed over the civilised world. On learning of Owen's interest in factories, Miss Dale suggested that he should visit her father's mills at New Lanark. Furnished with a letter of introduction to the manager, Owen went to New Lanark, and had the privilege of seeing over the mills. He was delighted with the model bviildings and the beautiful surroundings of wood 20 NEW LANARK and river. So much was he impressed that he said to the friend who accompanied him, ' Of all places I have yet seen, I should prefer this to try an experiment I have long contemplated, and have wished to have an opportunity to put into prac- tice,' ^ never supposing that his wish would be gratified. During Owen's subsequent visits to Glasgow, his acquaintance with Miss Dale increased and ripened into friendship. This led to mutual expres- sions of devotion, with the natural result that Owen latterly declared his hopes and aspirations to Miss Dale. Her answer, though not unfavour- able, was to the effect that she could never marry without the full knowledge and consent of her father. But she added, ' If you can find means to overcome my father's objections, it would go far to remove any I may now have to the request you have made.' ^ Here was an embarrassing situation ; Owen had not yet met Dale, and how could he be approached on such an important question ? Dale was a wealthy merchant and a bailie of the city of Glasgow, esteemed for his many acts of benevolence. He was also recognised as a fervently religious man. His views, however, were tainted by the narrowness and bigotry of the age in which he lived. Owen, on the other hand, was a com- paratively poor and unknown young man, and his religious beliefs had been disturbed by the ' Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 46. - Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 51. 21 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM discussions of the free-thinking element at the meetings of the Manchester Literary and Philoso- phical Society. Even at that time his heretical opinions were well known to all his friends. But Owen was a man of resource. Having heard from Miss Dale of her father's intention to dispose of the mills at New Lanark, he called at Dale's place of business and inquired if the New Lanark mills were for sale, and, if so, on what terms and conditions. Dale did not take the pro- posal seriously, as he considered Owen too young for such a large undertaking. Owen, however, explained that he was a partner in the Chorlton mills, and assured him that if the terms were satisfactory the capital would be forthcoming. By way of getting rid of his visitor, Dale sug- gested that before discussing the question Owen should make a careful examination of the mills and report the result to his partners. Owen, wishing to impress Dale with his business abilities, at once set out for Lanark, and before doing so he acquainted Miss Dale with the nature of the interview. She then ventured to inform her father of her attachment to Owen ; but he expressed his strong disapproval, giving as his reason that Owen was an unknown stranger, in fact, a mere ' land louper ' come to Scotland in search of a rich wife. David Dale wished an honest Scotsman for a son- in-law — one whom he knew and could trust. After making a survey of the buildings and the machinery at New Lanark, Owen proceeded to 22 NEW LANARK Manchester and laid the matter before the members of the two companies he represented. The other partners, having confidence in his judgment, de- puted two of their number to return with him to Lanark, and afterwards to proceed to Glasgow, with the view of opening negotiations for the purchase of the mills at New Lanark. Dale was surprised when the deputation waited on him. He had not expected to hear more of the wooer of his daughter and the prospective purchaser of the mills ; but Dale had misjudged his man. The two houses represented were Messrs. Borrow- dale and Atkinson of London, and Messrs, Bartons of Manchester. After making inquiries and satisfy- ing himself as to the financial positions of the firms, Dale intimated that he was prepared to treat for the whole estabhshment. With refer- ence to the price. Dale confessed that he had difficulty in naming a sum. ' But,' said he, ' Owen knows better than I do the value of such property at this period, and I wish that he would name what he would consider a fair price between honest buyers and sellers.' Considering the nature of his former reception, Owen felt taken aback by this flattering reference to himself. ' It appears to me,' he said, ' that £60,000, pay- able at the rate of £3,000 yearly for twenty years, would be an eqmtable price between both parties.' This, in commercial phraseology, was a firm offer. And Dale being no vulgar bargainer replied in his own simple way, ' If you think so, I will accept ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM the proposal as you have stated it, if your friends also approve of it.^ Without further talk the transaction was com- pleted, and the New Lanark estabhshment passed from the hands of David Dale. ' Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 63. 24 NEW LANARK CHAPTER IV During the early summer of 1799 the new company took over the mills under the name of ' New Lanark Twist Company,' with Robert Owen as manager. When Owen took up his duties at New Lanark, Miss Dale and her sisters were spending the smnmer months in a cottage near to the mills. There he had frequent opportunities of seeing Miss Dale, and his courtship was continued amidst the beautiful scenery on the banks of the Clyde. ' Our time,' he afterwards said, ' was passed very much to our satisfaction.' Dale, learning of the love-making, simimoned his daughters back to Glasgow. But Miss Dale had a friend and confidante in Mrs. Scott Moncrieff, wife of a co-director with Dale in the Royal Bank of Scotland. This lady, along with her husband, had considerable influence with Dale, which they exerted in Owen's favour. Besides, Dale had frequent opportunities of seeing Owen in connec- tion with the business of taking over the mills, and began to form a high opinion of his integrity and moral worth. Consequently, Dale's pre- judices were gradually overcome, and Owen was cordially received into the family circle. 25 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Ultimately the marriage was fixed for the last day of September of that year, 1799, and the romance was accordingly brought to a satisfactory ending in Dale's mansion-house in Charlotte Street, Glasgow. Owen with a touch of humour thus describes the marriage ceremony : ' We were married by the Revd. Mr. Balfour, an old friend of Mr. Dale's. . . . When we were all met on the morning of our marriage waiting for the ceremony to commence, Mr. Dale was there to give his daughter to me, and the younger sisters of Miss Dale for her bridesmaids. Mr. Balfour requested Miss Dale and me to stand up, and asked each of us if we were willing to take each other for husband or wife. Each simply nodded assent ; he said without one word more, " Then you are married, and you may sit down," and the ceremony was over. I observed to Mr. Balfoiu" that it was indeed a short ceremony. He said, " It is usually longer. I generally explain to young persons their duties in the married state, and often give them a long exhortation, but I could not presvune to do this with Mr. Dale's children while he lived and was present." ' After the marriage ceremony the yoimg couple set out for Manchester, where Owen had rented part of a large house called ' Greenheys.' The stay at Manchester, however, was not of long duration. The mills at New Lanark were not being conducted to the satisfaction of the proprietors, and it was decided that Owen 26 NEW LANARK should return and take over the entire manage- ment. In describing the circumstances of his return to New Lanark, he states that he intended not to be a mere manager, but to introduce a new order of things with the object of bettering the social conditions of the people. And so Robert Owen, in January 1800, entered on the 'govern- ment,' as he termed it, of New Lanark.^ The task he had undertaken was a most critical and difficult one, but he entered on his duties with enthusiasm. He felt that the longed-for oppor- tunity had arrived in which his socialistic views could be put into practice, and he at once set about his schemes of reformation. After a careful investigation of the whole establishment, it appeared to him that an abso- lute reconstruction was necessary. He, there- fore, began to ' put his house in order.' The first act was to dismiss the managers, and to arrange for the replacing of the old machinery by new. He next directed his attention to the population of the village. There were about fom-teen hundred people settled in New Lanark, and from foixr hundred to five hundred pauper children, who, as already pointed out, had been apprenticed for a term of years, and, in recom- pense for their labour, fed, clothed, and educated in the establishment. He determined that no more pauper children should be received. ' Autohiograpliy, Vol. I. p. 65. 27 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Although Owen was dissatisfied with many of the people in the mills, whom he described as being generally indolent and much addicted to theft, drunkenness, and falsehood, yet he did not adopt the usual^course under similar circumstances — that|of dismissal. He had other and higher aims in view, the soimdness of which he was anxious to prove. He beUeved, as he afterwards pro- pounded in The Rational System of Society, that man has always been the creature of the circum- stances in which he has been placed. He, there- fore, considered that by altering the conditions under which the inhabitants of New Lanark worked and Uved, the character and disposition of the people would gradually be affected for the better, and thus demonstrate the truth of his theory. But Owen viewed mankind through his own good nature. He did not then realise that, as a rule, the working-classes are suspicious of proffered benefactors, and that new methods of adminis- tration and new ways of doing work are generally met with hostility from the people they are intended to benefit. It is imagined that in new proposals the employer has only a selfish aim in view, that of adding an additional burden on the employed and of increasing his own profits. This feeling of dis- trust has been engendered through years of oppres- sion, and has left its angry stains on the minds of the workers. At New Lanark, Owen had not ideal humanity to deal with, and it is not surprising that his 28 NEW LANARK schemes met with opposition. The workers had been accustomed to the easy-going methods of the former proprietor, ' douce David Dale,' who had shown them by many acts of benevolence that he had their welfare at heart, as well as the gaining of profit from their labour ; and there was, in consequence, some excuse for the feeling they displayed towards Owen. The new proprietors, were, moreover. Englishmen, and the young man they had sent to manage the mills was full of novel ideas of a natvire they did not understand, and his manner of speech differed from that of the former manager, James Dale. They were also strongly opposed to the innovations that were being introduced in the working of the mills, as these only represented to them more profit to the new proprietors, of which they were not to be partakers. While Owen did not conceal the fact that his first aim in conducting the mills was to secure ample dividends to the commercial gentlemen who had invested their capital in the company, vet he made it clear that the schemes of social reform he had in view were matters of his own concern, for which he alone was responsible. At the outset he had some difficulty in removing the barriers of prejudice that obstructed the path of reform; but his patience, toleration and dis- cretion stood him in good stead. His first move was to gain the goodwill of the leading men in the village, and explain to them the ideals to which he 29 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM aspired, and ask for their co-operation in putting them into effect. He then brought forward various suggestions as to how the unfavourable circum- stances by which they were surrounded could be counteracted and replaced by others of more favourable tendency. He found, he said, that their houses were small, neglected, and dirty ; and that, socially, there were distrust, disorder, and disunion in their midst : those evils he sought to remedy. His first reform was to increase the housing accommodation from one to two apartments, and to have the unsanitary ash-pits removed from the front of the buildings. He further ordered the streets of the village to be swept daily at the expense of the company. But, while the houses had been made more commodious and the streets kept clean, the interiors of the dwellings were still unsatisfactory. Owen, therefore, intimated that he would give lectures on the subject of ' Order and Cleanliness.' But the lectures had no appreciable effect on the personal habits of the tenants, and he resolved to try another method. He convened a meeting of the villagers, and at his suggestion a committee was formed, whose duty was to visit each family weekly and report on the condition of the household. A set of rules to be observed by the inhabitants was drawn up. Every house had to be cleaned once a week and whitewashed at least once a year, and in rotation the tenants were to clean the 30 NEW LANARK common stairs. Ashes and dirty water were not to be thrown on the street, and it was forbidden to keep cattle, swine, poultry, or dogs in the houses. These rules and restrictions were grumblingly assented to by the men, but the women received them with wrathful indignation. ' Him and his English havers ! If we pay the rent and don't harm the house, it is nobody's business whether it be clean or dirty.' It is, therefore, not surprising to learn that the committee met with scant respect in their visita- tions. The majority of the housewives either locked their doors or hurled abuse, as only angry women can, at the intruders, calling them ' bug hunters ' and such flattering names. Even Owen himself did not escape without a due share of the odium.^ This determined opposition Owen took in a quiet manner, and never showed his displeasure. He merely asked the committee to persevere in the visiting; but, in future, to ask admission to the houses as a favour, and not as a right. Such conciliatory measures gradually overcame the strong aversion ; while a few friendly visits from Mrs. Owen to those who were clean and tidy in their households, and presents of plants from the gardens at Braxfield, worked wonders. In a short time the reports of the committee became more favourable. 1 Robert Owen at New Lanark (1839), p. 4. 31 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM He then turned his attention to the dishonesty and intemperance which prevailed in the com- munity. He found that through the laxity of the former management pilfering of goods existed to a considerable extent. To prevent a continuance of this evil he did not resort to legal punishment, but devised a system of checks and regulations, so that defaulters could be more readily detected. The methods adopted to combat the evil of intemperance were also effective. He appointed watchmen, who at night patrolled the streets of the village, and in the morning reported the names of those who were found intoxicated. The offenders were fined in a small sum for the first offence, a larger sum for the second, and the third offence was met with dismissal. By degrees, the result of this discipline was that the establishment became almost freed from in- temperance, although on New Year's Day some latitude had to be conceded. He also interested himself in the social morality of the inhabitants. He viewed falsehood and deception as serious offences, and looked upon a he as the most heinous of all sins. When the peace of the village was disturbed by dissension and quarrels, he summoned the defaulters to appear before him, and generally recommended forgiveness and friendship. He also exhorted them to be true to one another, to study each other's happiness, and not to be selfish and envious as they hitherto had been. NEW LANARK The village store established by David Dale sup- plied goods of a somewhat inferior quality at a high price. To remedy this defect, Owen conceived the idea of conducting the business on a co-opera- tive principle. Articles of daily use, such as pro- visions, milk, clothing, fuel, etc., all of the best quality, were purchased wholesale for ready money and retailed at moderate prices, after adding rent of premises and expenses of management. The result was that the inhabitants were provided with goods at fifteen per cent, under the former prices. Owen, as already indicated, recognised the evil of intemperance, but he found it impossible to enforce total abstinence among the people of New Lanark. He, therefore, freely accepted the situa- tion, and permitted restricted quantities of whisky to be sold in the store. The average yearly profits realised by the sales amounted to about £700, this sum being devoted to the educational interests of the village. It may be here noted that the present co-opera- tive movement originated at New Lanark, and that of the many schemes evolved by Owen it is the only one that has survived. Amongst the other material benefits bestowed on the population was a savings bank, where the yearly deposits amounted to £3,000. There was also instituted a benefit society for the sick and aged, towards Avhich each person employed in the mills contributed a sixtieth part of his wages. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER V While the social reformation of the people steadily progressed, so also did the equipment and adminis- tration of the mills. The plan of receiving pauper children being distasteful to Owen, he resolved, as already stated, to abolish the system, and by so doing he removed to a considerable extent the reluctance which parents formerly had to allow their children to work in the mills. Under the altered conditions there was no difficulty in obtain- ing sufficient child-labour in the district of Lanark. Within the factory order and punctuality were rigidly enforced among the operatives. In his daily rounds of the mills Owen would pick up the smallest flocks of cotton he saw on the floor, and hand them to one of the children, with the request to put them into the waste-basket. He did this, as he told his son, not so much for the value of the cotton as to teach the people strict habits of care- fulness and economy.^ In every section of the mills Owen contrived a series of checks on the workpeople, by means of which a wrong done, or a blunder committed, in one department was almost sure to be detected at ' Threading My Way, p. 78. 34 NEW LANARK some other point. One of these — a device quite schoolboy-like in its simplicity— had reference to the personal conduct of the workers, and was used for marking various degrees of merit and demerit. He provided each person employed in the mills with what he called a silent monitor, which con- sisted of a piece of wood about two inches long and one inch thick, each side painted a different colour — ^white, yellow, blue, and black. One of these silent monitors was suspended by a wire in a conspievious place near to the person employed, and the colour facing the individual indicated his conduct of the previous day. To form degrees of comparison — white denoted excellent, yellow good, blue indifferent, and black bad. Books of character were also provided for the several departments, and the colours, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, were entered to the credit or discredit of each individual, so that Owen could tell at a glance how the respective workers had conducted them- selves during any period of the year. The superin- tendents had the placing of the marks in the books ; but if any one thought that injustice had been done, he or she had a right to appeal to the manager. Such complaints, however, very rarely occm-red. ' This act,' said Owen, ' of setting down the number in the book of character, never to be blotted out, might be likened to the recording angel marking the good and bad deeds of poor human nature.' ^ ^ Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 81. 35 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM In view of present-day trades-unionism, it is almost inconceivable how Owen managed to get his workpeople to submit to this system of regis- tration of character. In all probability, the plan would not be put into operation until he had succeeded in gaining the entire confidence of the people. The circumstance which secured Owen the con- fidence and goodwill of the population occurred in the year 1806. In that year the United States of America placed an embargo on the exportation of cotton ; and the prices of the raw material advanced to such an extent as to bring the British cotton trade almost to a state of collapse. Owen found that under the altered conditions the mills at New Lanark could not be worked unless at a serious loss ; and, after full consideration, he decided to close the establish- ment. But the privations which necessarily would ensue to the workers pressed heavily on the kindly nature of Robert Owen. He, therefore, followed the precedent set by David Dale, and persuaded his partners to allow the workpeople their full wages for simply keeping the machinery in order. The embargo lasted for fovir months, and during that time over £7000 was paid in wages. By this act of generosity Robert Owen at last won the full confidence and respect of the whole popula- tion. The opposing elements amongst the workpeople having been conquered, and the mills put in 36 NEW LANARK thorough order, he next turned his attention to the education of the children. He was convinced of the great importance of right education from the earhest years as a means to the regeneration of mankind. ' I know,' he said, ' that society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any, misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundred-fold ; and no obstacle what- soever intervenes at this moment, except ignorance, to prevent such a state of society from becom- ing universal.' ^ In this belief, Owen carried on his labours in the cause of education at New Lanark. The accommodation which had been set apart in one of the factory buildings by Dale was still used for school purposes, and the education con- ducted on the Lancasterian system. At first Owen favoured this method, but experience proved that the teaching of a number of classes in one room by monitors was neither thorough nor effec- tive. Consequently, he resolved to provide a separate building to be called the ' New Institution,' and to be used exclusively for school classes, church, lectures, concerts, and general recreation. To erect and equip a building such as he contem- plated pointed to an expenditiu-e of at least £5000, but he was satisfied in his own mind that the outlay would be amply rewarded by the improved character of the children. ^ Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 349. 2>7 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM He, therefore, matured his plans and laid the scheme before his partners. In so doing he pointed out the results likely to be derived from the pro- posed new institution. He also reminded them of what had been already done in improving the habits and surroundings of the population. Alarmed at the proposals, the London and Man- chester partners sent a deputation to New Lanark to make a careful inspection of the establishment. When the report of the deputation came to be considered, strong dissatisfaction was expressed with the methods employed in the management of the mills, and objections were taken to the new proposals. As the company, however, had been considerably enriched through Owen's energy and ability, they hesitated to take immediate action in the matter ; and, instead of openly indicating their disagreement with his plans, they resolved — perhaps with a touch of irony — to present him with a silver salver in appreciation of his labours. Owen, who had been accustomed to the opposition but straight dealing of the workpeople, mistook this act of his partners for a mark of approval of his schemes. After an interval of a few months the deputation retm-ned for a fvu-ther investigation. To the second deputation he explained at length the nature of his designs, and the beneficial effects likely to result therefrom. But they were not in sympathy with such lofty projects and refused to sanction them. 38 NEW LANARK Owen, convinced of the ultimate success of his schemes, made it clear that, if they declined to proceed on the lines indicated, he was willing either to purchase or to sell the establishment, and named the sum of £84,000. This amount, in addition to £60,000 already received in dividends, they considered satisfactory, and decided to accept the offer ; and thus, for the second time, Robert Owen fixed the price of the New Lanark estab- lishment. A new company with sufficient capital to pur- chase and work the mills was soon formed. Owen had been previously entrusted by a relation of his wife, Mr. Campbell of Jura, with the investment of £20,000 in the New Lanark company. Through this family connection, and in order to retain the loan, he assumed as partners two sons-in-law of Mr, Campbell — Mr. Denniston and Mr. Alexander Campbell — also a Mr. Colin Campbell, and these three gentlemen, along with Owen and John Atkinson, one of the former partners, formed the new company. Under the impression that he was free to act as he thought fit, Owen proceeded to carry into effect his plan of erecting ' the institution for the forma- tion of character,' at a cost of £3000. But the new partners proved even more obstinate than the old. They were, they said, commercial men who had invested their capital for profit, and had no concern with the education of children or improvements for bettering the condition of the workpeople. 39 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Therefore, they objected to outlays on projects not of a remunerative nature. They also took exception to the salaries of the superintendents, and to the wages paid for labour. To this remon- strance Owen not only turned a deaf ear, but also continued the carrying out of his projects. In order to counteract this persistency the other partners gave him formal intimation to proceed no further with the building of the ' New Insti- tution.' Again tired of partners who cared for nothing but to buy cheap and sell dear, he wished himself free from the new combination. Ultimately the Campbells and Atkinson resolved on a dissolution of the copartnery, with the intention, if possible, to get rid of Owen and retain the mills in their own possession. But Owen, resolved that the establishment should not pass out of his hands without a struggle, offered to buy back the concern at a stated sum. This proposal they declined to entertain and insisted on the works being sold by public auction. Owen then resigned his position as managing director and proceeded to London to seek new partners, and also to publish the first of his Essays on the Formation of Character. In forming the third partnership he was anxious to be associated with men of sympathies similar to his own. He, therefore, sought the aid of philanthropists hke Jeremy Bentham ; Michael Gibbs, afterwards Lord Mayor of London; also four noted Quakers — 40 NEW LANARK William Allan, a chemist ; John Walker ; Joseph Fox, a dentist ; and Joseph Foster. During the interval the New Lanark establish- ment had been advertised for sale by ' Public Roup ' to take place in Glasgow on the 31st Decem- ber 1813. According to an advertisement which appeared in the Glasgow Herald, the establishment consisted of four cotton mills — three of seven, and one of six stories in height; also a building, 454 feet by 20 feet, used as a store, a machine shop, and a brass and iron foundry. ' The New Institution,' which had been the cause of so much friction between Owen and his partners, is thus described : ' There is another building of the following dimensions, at present unoccupied — 145 feet by 45 feet over the walls, containing a cellar 140 feet long by 19 feet broad, and 9 feet high ; first floor above the cellar, one room 140 feet by 40 feet by 11 feet 6 inches high ; second floor, 140 feet by 40 feet by 21 feet high. This building has been planned to admit of an extensive store cellar, a public kitchen, eating and exercise room, a school, lecture room, and church. All of which, it is supposed, may be fitted up in a very complete manner for a sum not exceeding £2500 ; and this arrangement may be formed so as to create permanent and substantial benefits to the inhabitants of the village, and to the proprietors of the mills.' In London, Owen had been successful in obtaining the promise of the necessary capital, and by the 41 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM 27th December the terms of the new copartnery were finally arranged. He, along with three of his supporters, afterwards proceeded to Glasgow to await the issue of the sale. The Campbells, under the impression that Owen would be unable to find the necessary money, spread rumours as to the mills having depreciated in value under his management, expecting thereby to lessen outside competition, and to obtain a bargain of the property. There arose, in consequence, a difference of opinion regarding the upset price at which the estabhshment should be exposed. The Campbells suggested £40,000; but Owen insisted that the amount should be £60,000, being the sum he had already offered to buy back the property. He was prepared, he told his London friends, to give double that sum rather than allow the establish- ment to pass out of his hands. The sale of the property commenced at the upset price of £60,000. The bidding was keen on both sides ; the former partners advanced their bids by £1000, and Owen's agent, Alexander Macgregor, capped each bid with an additional £100. In the end the New Lanark establishment was knocked down to Robert Owen at £114,100, the opponents' final bid being £114,000. The result was mortifying to the Campbells. They never doubted but that success was certain, and had, in anticipation, invited a number of friends to dine with them at the close of the sale. 42 NEW LANARK Under the circumstances, the function could hardly be of a lively description ; but an element of hiunour was introduced into the proceedings by Colonel Hunter, a wag of some repute in the city, who, in proposing the health of the Campbells, said : ' I ask you, gentlemen, to drink a bumper to the favoiuites of fortune who have just sold for £114,100 a property they had valued at £40,000.' ' Although the colonel intended his remarks to be of a consoling rather than of an offensive nature, they had a very irritating effect on the Campbells. The humourist is often misunderstood ; and this little joke cost the colonel the friendship of the Campbells, as he did not again sit at their table. Owen, on the other hand, quietly despatched a mounted messenger to convey the news to New Lanark. On an ordinary occasion Hogmanay and Ne'erday were amongst the ' daft days ' at New Lanark ; but when the messenger arrived from Glasgow with the glad tidings, that Robert Owen was the fortunate purchaser of the mills, the joy of the inhabitants of the village knew no bounds. It was a time for public rejoicing. The mills were stopped, bands of music played lively tunes through the streets, and the windows of the dwelling-houses were illuminated with candles as for some national triumph. The animation, which continued for a few days, found a fitting climax on the 4th January, when Owen and his Quaker ' Threading My Way, p. 85. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM friends, who had been delayed in Glasgow com- pleting the business formalities of the purchase, arrived at Lanark. The reception which they received on enter- ing the burgh is described in a letter dated 5th January 1814, and published in the Glasgow Herald of January 10th : ' There were great rejoicings here yesterday on account of Mr. Owen's return, after his purchase of New Lanark. The Society of Free Masons at this place, with colours flying and a band of music, accompanied by almost the whole of the inhabi- tants, met Mr. Owen immmediately before entering into the burgh of Lanark, and hailed him with the loudest acclamations of joy : his people took the horses from the carriage, and, a flag being placed in front, drew him and his friends along, until they reached Braxfield, where his lady and two of her sisters being prevailed upon to enter the carriage, which was uncovered, the people with the most rapturous exultation proceeded to draw them through the streets of New Lanark, where all were eager to testify their joy at his return. ' On being set down at his own house, Mr. Owen, in a very appropriate speech, expressed his acknow- ledgment to his people for the warmth of their attachment, when the air was again rent with the most enthusiastic bursts of applause. ' Mr. Owen is so justly beloved by all the inhabi- tants employed at New Lanark, and by all people of all ranks in the neighbourhood, and a general 44 fpri-^ -^ FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PORTRAIT BY W. H. BROOKE, A, R H, A. NEW LANARK happiness has Taeen felt since the news arrived of his continuing a proprietor of the mills. . . .' In describing the scene, Owen says that he remonstrated with those who harnessed them- selves to the carriage, reminding them that the workman had already too long been treated as the brute, and continues : ' My new partners seemed to congratulate themselves that they had become connected with such people and such an establishment. It was a day and a proceeding which I shall never forget. It interested me deeply, and, if possible, increased my determination to do to them (the people) and their children all the good in my power.' ^ ' Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 97. 45 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER VI Owen had at last come into his kingdom at New Lanark. To the new company he had dictated his own terms. He was to hold £50,000 of the share capital of £130,000, and to have a free hand in the future management of the establishment. He also laid down a condition that when five per cent, had been paid on the capital the remaining profits were to be utilised for the purpose of education and benevolence. When the company got possession of the estab- lishment, Owen lost no time in again setting to work and completing the ' institution for the formation of character.' The building was for- mally opened on 1st January 1816, when he gave an address of considerable length, pointing out that, though the institution was intended for the workers in all the conditions of their lives, yet the education of the young would receive first consideration. Since he had presided at a public dinner given to Joseph Lancaster, the educational reformer, at Glasgow in 1812, education had become his ruling passion. On that occasion he took the opportunity of indicating his own views. In speaking of Lancaster's plan of education, he 46 NEW LANARK went on to say : ' By education I now mean the instruction of all kinds which we receive from our earliest infancy until our characters are generally fixed and established. It is, however, necessary that the value of the object should be considered as well as putting it into execution. Much has been said and written in relation to education, but few persons are yet aware of its real importance in society, and certainly it has not acquired that prominent rank in our estimation which it deserves ; for, when duly investigated, it will be found to be, so far at least as it depends on our operations, the primary source of all good and evil, misery and happiness which exist in the world.' After pointing out the differences, both physical and mental, which the various races of the earth present, he continued : ' From whence do these general bodily and mental differences proceed ? Are they inherent in our nature, or do they arise from the respective soils on which they are born ? Evidently from neither. They are wholly and solely the effects of that education which I have described. Man becomes a wild ferocious savage, a cannibal, or a highly civilised and benevolent being, according to the circumstances in which he may be placed from his birth. Let us suppose that if any given number of children were ex- changed at their birth between the Society of Friends, of which our worthy guest, Joseph Lan- caster, is a member, and the loose fraternity who inhabit St. Giles in London, the children of the 47 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM former would grow up like the members of the latter, prepared for every degree of crime ; while those of the latter would become the same temper- ate, good, moral characters of the former. ' While it cannot be denied that education has an important bearing on the formation of character, still the proposition set forth by Owen ' that man is a creature of circumstances ' obtains only to a limited degree ; because the ruling faculty in man is capable of altering or reversing the conditions of environment. Some men, the capable, rise superior to their condition ; while others, the incap- able, fall. Often a man brought up under the most favourable circumstances sinks to depths of degradation and crime, whilst another placed in the most adverse conditions attains to a high and honourable position in the world. But Owen had not the mental vision to see round a complex subject such as this. His ideas were second-hand, borrowed from the humanism of Rousseau and from the advanced political thinking of the last decade of the eighteenth century. It is, therefore, not surprising that in his argu- ments no account was taken of the varied aspects of the subject, such as the dominant influence of race, climate, natural selection, and hereditary qualities transmitted through successive generations. Notwithstanding the faulty reasoning contained in this speech, Owen was lauded throughout the country as a great reformer and philosopher ; and this acted on him like a spell. Hitherto he had 48 NEW LANARK been content to confine his efforts to New Lanark, but the pubUc laudation imbued him with the lofty desire of embracing the whole world in his scheme of social reform. By the time the institution was opened, Owen's ideas on education were matured. His favourite theme was to educate a child from its infancy ; to ' train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.' With this aim in view the infant school was introduced at New Lanark. The children of the village, as soon as they could walk, were, with their parents' consent, received at the institution, where two large rooms were set apart, one for children under four years, and one for those from four to six years of age. The latter room was furnished with large coloured maps and paintings, chiefly of objects of natural history; and these formed the only teaching instruments of the first rational infant school set up in Britain. As regards teachers, he was more concerned that they should be loving and patient with children than book-learned ; so that instead of engaging trained teachers he selected as master a quiet, simple-minded old weaver named Jamie Buchanan, who could scarcely read, spell, or write ; the chief recommendation put forth in his favour seeming to be that he had been ' previously trained by his wife to perfect submission to her will.' By way of contrast he made choice of a schoolmistress in the person of Molly Young, a bright-eyed young D 49 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM mill- worker of seventeen summers. Previous to entering on their duties, Owen explained to them the aims he had in view as to the method of teaching, and the subjects to be taught. At the outset he m-ged on them the necessity of never, under any provocation, using harsh words or actions, and of inculcating by every means in their power a spirit of loving-kindness in the children. No attempt was to be made to teach them read- ing or writing, not even the alphabet; but they were to be instructed in the nature and uses of the common things around them, and by familiar conversation, when the children's curiosity caused them to ask questions. There was to be nothing formal, no tasks to learn or any books to read. Much of the time was to be spent in the spacious playground in front of the institution, and they were to be amused in childish games and with suitable stories. No corporal punishment, no threat or violent language, was to be permitted on the part of the teachers. In wishing to defer the use of books until a later period in a child's education, Owen was unknow- ingly following the theory of Rousseau. The method, however, was found to be impracticable at New Lanark, owing to the children being with- drawn from the school between the ages of ten and twelve in order to work in the mills. The parents, in consequence, insisted on their being taught early the arts of reading and writing. Following the example set by David Dale, an 50 NEW LANARK evening school was conducted for the instruction of the older children employed at the works. But few took advantage of the facilities so afforded ; and those who did, as in the former case, could not, after eleven hours' labour, derive much benefit from the teaching. Owen intended to make education free; but, in consideration of the Scots aversion to charity, he charged a small fee of threepence per month for the advanced classes. In the infant school, how- ever, no charge was made. The higher classes were instructed in a large room on the upper floor, measuring 90 feet by 40 feet, and 20 feet high, and fitted vip on the Lan- casterian plan, with ranges of desks and forms on each side and a wide passage in the centre. Here the boys and girls were taught in separate classes ; mixing only at the lectures, and at the singing and dancing lessons. As already indicated, Owen did not approve of teaching several classes in a large room, and advocated, instead, a series of small class-rooms providing accommodation for from thirty to forty scholars. On this, as on other educational ques- tions, he seems to have been before his time ; for it is only now that the method of teaching in small classes is being recognised in our schools. Besides being used for school purposes, the hall served as a public lecture room. It was also used as a place of worship : for these services galleries were erected round three sides, with a platform and pulpit 51 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM at one end. The other room, 49 feet by 40 feet, was used for the school lectures, music, and danc- ing. Hung round the walls were diagrams for illustrating the lectiu-es ; also large coloured maps of the two hemispheres, having each separate country, as well as the various seas, islands, etc., coloured differently.^ In addition to the usual staff of teachers, there were attached to the establishment a master who taught dancing and singing, a drill-master, and a sewing-mistress. The hours of attendance were arranged so that the children should not be wearied by the length of the lessons. In summer the school opened at 7.30 a.m. and continued till nine o'clock, then from ten till twelve, and in the afternoon from three till five. During the winter months the hours were similar ; but the children remained at school from ten till two, with half an hour's interval, and did not return in the afternoon. The infant classes, however, attended only for three hours. The ages of the children ranged from two to ten years ; but Owen desired that ultimately the age limit should be raised, so that no child under twelve years of age would be allowed to work in the mills. 1 These maps and diagrams are still preserved at New Lanark mills. 52 NEW LANARK CHAPTER VII School teaching, at that time, being unhampered by the hard and fast rules and regulations of a central authority, such as our Education Depart- ment, Owen was free to shape the education to his own ideas. He, therefore, assumed full control of the schools, visited the classes daily, and advised on the smallest matter of detail. Besides pro- viding for general instruction he took advantage of the opportunity to disseminate his views amongst the children. These views are clearly indicated by the principles on which the schools were conducted : — ' The children are governed not by severity, but by kindness ; and excited not by distinctions, but by creating in them a wish to learn what thej^ are to be taught. . . . ' A child who acts improperly is not considered an object of blame, but of pity. His instructors are aware that a practical knowledge of the effects of his conduct is all that is required in order to induce him to change it, and this knowledge they endeavour to give him. They show him the inseparable and immediate connection of his own happiness with that of those around him. 53 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM 'In cases where admonition is necessary, it is given in the spirit of kindness and of charity, as from the more experienced to the less experienced ; the former, having been taught wherein the true self-interest consists, are aware that had the indi- vidual who has just been acting improperly had the knowledge and the power given him to form his character, he would to a certainty have excluded from its composition such feelings as those in which his offence originated, because that knowledge would have informed him that these were only calculated to diminish his own happiness. The presence of those feelings would constitute the surest proof that the knowledge and the power had been denied him. . . . ' All artificial rewards and punishments are excluded from the schools, because both have prejudicial effects upon the human character. Reward generates pride, vanity, and inordinate ambition. Punishment debases the character and destroys the moral energies, causing unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Where artificial rewards and punishments are introduced the child's notions of right and wrong become confused by the substitu- tion of these for the natural consequence resulting from his conduct. . . . ' It is a false idea that children are over-awed by fear of punishment, and stimulated by hope of reward. No unnecessary restraint is imposed, but on the contrary every liberty is allowed con- sistent with good order. The teachers are loved, 54 NEW LANARK not feared, yet without any deduction from their authority whenever they find it necessary to exert it. ' Their pupils converse with them out of school hom-s, or even diuing the lessons when it can be done with propriety, with the most perfect ease and freedom, and such conversation is considered a privilege. ' What the children have to learn is conveyed to them in as pleasant and agreeable a manner as can be devised. The subject is selected and treated with a view to interest them as much as possible. In the lectures, if the interest or attention is observed to flag, the teacher looks to the lecture itself, and to the means of delivering it, rather than to the children, to discover the cause. It is on this principle that sensible signs and con- versations are made the medium of instruction, whenever it is practicable ; and this plan, dic- tated by nature, has been found to be eminently useful.' ^ Although the manner of instruction received such careful attention, yet Owen looked upon it only as a means to facilitate the acquirement of knowledge ; the matter taught being considered the most important factor in real education. With stich ends in view the following branches of education were adopted : reading, writing, arith- metic, geography, history — ancient and modern, ■' An Outline of the System of Education at New Lanark, by Robert Dale Owen, Glasgow, 1824. 55 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM natural history, religion, sewing, singing, dancing, and drill. The reading books consisted of Miss Edgeworth's tales, together with short accounts of voyages and travels which were illustrated by plates and maps, and interspersed with amusing anecdotes. fThe children were first made to understand the nature and properties of the different objects before they were taught the artificial signs adopted to represent the objects. By this means they were led to under- stand the meaning of what they read ; but it was different with the teaching of the Bible and the Shorter Catechism. Owen desired that these should not be put into the hands of children at an early age, because, he said, 'they could not explain what they had learned by rote.' However, at the request of the parents, and in deference to the wishes of the Quaker partners, instruction was given in Scriptural knowledge. - In writing, as soon as a child could form the letters freely, the lined text copy was discarded and the child taught to write short sentences, generally illustrative of some subject connected with history or geography. ^ Arithmetic received special attention. At first the ordinary system prevailed, but subsequently the system of M. Pestalozzi was introduced — a principle founded on sense impression. The elementary processes were learnt from a Table of Units in which each unit was represented by a line ; the child thereby being able to see at a glance 56 NEW LANARK the results of addition, subtraction, and multi- plication. In a similar manner the theory of fractions was taught by a Table of Squares, the squares being divided into two, three, or more equal parts. •^ Natural history, geography, ancient and modern history were, from their relation to one another, embraced in one group and taught to classes of from forty to fifty by means of familiar lectures. In the natural history course, the division of nature into the three kingdoms of animal, vegetable, and mineral was first explained. Soon the children were able to distinguish to which of the three divisions an object presented to them belonged : the teacher then proceeded to explain points of detail connected with the most interesting objects of each of the three kingdoms, such as quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles, and insects, also of interesting botanical and mineralogical specimens. In those lessons the illustrated representations which hung round the room were brought into use. A similar course was followed in the teaching of geography. The children were informed of the shape of the earth, its general divisions into land and water, the subdivisions of the land into four continents and into larger and smaller islands. Afterwards the names of the principal countries and of their capitals were pointed out, along with the most striking particulars concerning their external appearance, natural curiosities, manners, and customs. 57 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM '^'^ The instruction in ancient and modern his- tory formed a special feature in the school ; and in this branch of education the aid of sen- sible signs was again enlisted. A lady with Sociahstic tendencies, a Miss Whitwell, who had been attracted to New Lanark by the grow- ing fame of the estabhshment, painted a series of large canvases illustrative of the streams of time. On the streams, each of which was differently coloured and represented a nation, were shown the principal events which occurred in the history of those nations, each century being enclosed by a horizontal hne drawn across the map. »--By means of the maps the children were taught the outlines of history with ease, and without being liable to confound different events or different nations. On hearing of any two events, for instance, the child had but to recollect the situation on the tables of the illustration by which these were represented, in order to be furnished at once with their chronological relation to each other. If the events were contemporaneous he would instantly perceive it. When the formation and subdivision of large empires were represented the eye caught the whole at once ; for whenever the coloured stream of one nation extended over another on the tables it indicated either the subjection of one of them, or of their union ; and their subsequent separation was expressed by the two streams diverging. The scholars could, 58 NEW LANARK therefore, point out the different historical events as they did the countries on the map of the world. Perhaps the chief attraction to the children was the dancing and music lessons. In music a commencement was made by learning the names and sounds of the notes, and by singing the gamut, then proceeding to strike the distances. Gradually a knowledge of the elements of the science of music was obtained. The musical notes and signs, as well as a variety of musical exercises, were repre- sented on a large scale on a rolled canvas similar to that already mentioned in the teaching of natvual history. In the selection of songs it was found that the favourites were generally lively Scots airs with merry words, such as ' The Birks of Aberfeldy,' ' Auld Lang Syne,' etc. Once a week a concert was held in the evening, and the vocal per- formers were assisted by the village instrumental band. In the teaching of dancing Owen's aim was to make it a pleasant, healthful, natural, and social exercise, calculated to improve the carriage and deportment, and to raise the spirits and increase the cheerfulness and hilarity of those engaged in it. The dances taught varied, Scotch reels, country dances, and quadrilles being taken in succession. Besides dancing, both boys and girls were put through a few military evolutions in order, it was said, to improve their carriage and manner 59 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM of walking, as they marched from place to place in the school. v^AU the girls, except those in the two youngest classes, were taught sewing, including knitting, marking, cutting-out, etc. One day of the week Avas appointed, when they were requested to bring to school any garment (which miist pre- viously have been washed) that required mending, and these they were taught to repair as neatly as possible. Owen, in his Autobiography, speaks approvingly of the result of the tuition : ' The children showed an eager desire to understand the use of the maps. Buchanan, the master, was first taught their use, and then how to instruct the children for their amusement, for with these infants everything was made to be amusement. It was most encouraging and delightful to see the progress which these infants and children made in real knowledge, without the use of books ; and when the best means of instruction or of forming the character shall be known, I doubt whether books will ever be used before children attain their tenth year. And yet, without books, they will have a superior character formed for them at ten. . . . Here, with the most simple means as agents, two untaught persons, not having one idea of the office in which they were placed, or of the objects intended to be attained, accomplished, unknown to themselves, results which surprised, astonished, and con- founded the most learned and wise, and the greatest 60 NEW LANARK men of their generation. James Buchanan and Molly Young, by being for some time daily in- structed how to treat the infants and children committed to their charge within the surroundings which had been previously created and arranged for them, produced results, unconsciously to them- selves, which attracted the attention of the advanced minds of the civilised world — results which puzzled the most experienced of them, to divine the power which moulded humanity into the beings they came to see.' t/'The success of the system is finally summed up by Owen's son : ' The general appearance of the children is to a stranger very striking. The leading character of their countenances is a mixed look of openness, confidence, and intelligence, such as is scarcely to be met with among children in their situation. Their animal spirits are always excellent. Their manners and deportment towards their teachers and towards strangers are fearless and unrestrained, yet neither forward nor disrespectful. Their general health is so good that the doctor attached to the village — who is in the habit of examining the day scholars periodically — states, as the result of an examination which took place a few weeks since, that, out of three hundred children, only three had some slight complaint, and all the others were in perfect health. ^j^The individual literary acquirements of the ' Autobiography, Vol. I. pp. 140-141. 6i ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM greater portion of the older classes are such as perhaps no body of children of the same age, in any situation, have an opportunity of attaining. . . . ' A sufficient degree of friendly emulation is ex- cited amongst them, without any artificial stimulus ; but it is an emulation which induces them to prefer going forward with their companions, to leaving them behind. ' Their own improvement is not their only source of enjoyment. That of their companions they appear to witness with pleasure, unmixed with any envious feelings whatever, and to be eager to afford them any assistance they may require. . . . ' It has always been found that the children who made the greatest proficiency in their studies and acquirements proved subsequently the best, the most industrious, and most intelligent assis- tants, both as workpeople and as domestics.' ^ These extracts from the writings of Robert Dale Owen must not be taken too literally, because he was a Utopian like his father, and was, therefore, apt to place too high a value on the merits of his schemes. He even claims for his father the dis- tinction of being the originator of the infant school system : ' Pestalozzi and Oberlin have each been spoken of as originating the infant school system, but my father seems to have been its true founder.' " In making this claim Owen, the younger, ' An Outline of the System of Education at New Lanark, pp. 72-74. 2 Threading My Way, p. 90. 62 NEW LANARK evidently was not aware that similar ideas had been thought out by great minds long before his father's time. The system can be traced back to the Greeks. In ancient Athens the studies were, in like manner, made fascinating, the Athenian children, instead of finding themselves forced through difficulties of reading, writing, and arith- metic, being taught mainly by means of games. The result was that scholars so taught were im- pressed with a genuine love of learning. It is difficult to trace the source from which Owen derived his inspiration. In all likelihood he would be influenced, as other educational reformers had been, by the movement of thought led by Rousseau. Although, curiously enough, there is no reference to Rousseau in his writings, yet no doubt exists as to the similarity of ideas, in the return to nature and the abolition of all rewards and punishments. Or, possibly, he received his ideas through the experiments of a prominent disciple of Rousseau — Oberlin — who had estab- lished an infant school at Fribourg, Geneva, some years before 1816, when the system was introduced at New Lanark. At all events, Owen must have heard of Oberlin's work, because two years later, 1818, we find him in company with Professor Pictet, the Swiss, ^ visiting the Continent and inspecting the schools of Oberlin, of Fellenberg, and of Pestalozzi. From ' Professor Pictet had visited New Lanark in 1817, where he con- tracted a warm and lasting friendship with Owen. 6^ ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM these places he brought back some valuable hints for the further development of his establishment at New Lanark. Owen seems to have been attracted by Fellen- berg's estabhshment, for he afterwards sent his sons, William and Robert there, to finish their education. While we cannot attribute to Owen the credit of originating infant schools, still, with him rests the honour of being the first to introduce the system into this country. To quote the words from a speech by Professor Huxley, delivered in 1871, at the centenary of Owen's birth : ' It is my duty to take part in the attempt which the country is now making [the School Board contests] to carry into effect some of Robert Owen's most cherished schemes. No one can look into the problem of popular education but he must be led to Owen's conclusion that the infant school is, so to speak, the key to the position. Robert Owen discerned this great fact, and with courage and patience worked out his theory into practice ; and that is his great claim, if he had no other, to the enduring gratitude of mankind.' During the first quarter of the nineteenth century Owen's was undoubtedly the strongest force in shaping the education of the country. Although now regarded by many as a dreamer, who endeavoured to reconstruct society on a new but impossible basis, yet some of his teachings, as well as the personal example that he set, might with advantage be followed in the education of to-day. 64 NEW LANARK CHAPTER VIII The fame of Robert Owen and his plans for the regeneration of society spread over Europe, and New Lanark became a centre of attraction for those interested in education and social reform, crowds being drawn thither to see the school and mills in operation. Between the years 1815 and 1825, according to the visitors' book, nearly twenty thousand had visited the village ; amongst whom were states- men, philanthropists, bishops, and all classes of professional men from every part of Great Britain ; besides foreign princes, dukes, and ambassadors. Perhaps the most notable of these was the man who afterwards became the Czar of Russia. The Grand Duke Nicholas, then in his twentieth year, while on a tour through Great Britain in 1816, visited Glasgow, and when there received an invita- tion from Owen to visit New Lanark. The Duke, having previously heard of the social experiment, readily accepted the invitation ; and with the officers of his suite, to the number of eight, spent two days at the village, staying for one night as Owen's guest at Braxfield. The occasion was one of great importance to E 65 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Owen. With considerable misgivings, tinged with feelings of nervousness, he awaited his guest's arrival on that cold December day. Being anxious to give a fitting welcome to the Duke, Owen ordered the village instrumental band to meet the carriage as it entered the town of Lanark and escort it to Braxfield. The compliment, however, was not appreciated; as the indifferent music, together with the enthusiasm of the crowd that clustered round the carriage, and the delay occa- sioned thereby, annoyed the Duke. But, in- stead of showing his displeasure, he presented the leader of the band with a ten-pound note. Owen's uneasiness was soon set at rest when he discovered that the interpreter to the august party was a Scotsman, named Sir Alexander Crichton, who accompanied the Duke in the capacity of private physician. He accordingly braced himself up for the occasion, and took full advantage of the services of Sir Alexander. His son, Robert Dale Owen, says : ' The Duke listened with marked attention for two hours and more to an exposition by my father of his peculiar views for the improvement of mankind.' ^ One of the subjects discussed related to Malthus' theory, that our little island of Great Britain was overpeopled. The Duke expressed his willingness to promote the advantageous settlement in Russia of British manufacturers, and suggested that Owen should go there and take with him two milUonsof the ■ Threading My Way, p. 118. 66 NEW LANARK surplus population of Britain. But Owen respect- fully declined the offer, as his ambitions were in process of being satisfied at New Lanark ; both in regard to the success of his educational and social schemes, and the financial results accruing from the working of the factory. He likewise enjoyed the freedom that he desired, for the community was based on ' Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.' At Braxfield the Duke lived in a simple manner, eating but sparingly of the plainest food and scarcely tasting wine. And, to the consternation of Mrs. Owen, he discarded the luxurious feather- bed specially provided for his use, and instead had fixed in the room, as was his wont, an iron camp-bed with leathern mattress, spread with the rudest coverings and pillows stuffed with hay ; while one of the attendants slept on the floor outside of the doorway of the room. During supper Sir Alexander Crichton drew the Duke's attention to the crest on the silver-plate, which resembled the double-headed Russian eagle ; and, by way of jest, suggested the right of pro- perty. Owen took the matter seriously, and thought that the plate would form a fitting memento of the visit. He, therefore, ordered the butler, William Sheddon, to pack up the silver dessert set, which was duly handed to one of the attendants, along with a letter begging the Duke's acceptance of it. On learning what had taken place, Mrs. Owen was indignant to think of her fine silver forks and spoons being given 67 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM away to a wealthy dignitary of only two days' acquaintance. Sheddon, the butler, also looked grudgingly into the empty case, the contents of which had often excited his admiration ; but he was comforted when the purser slipped ten pounds into his itching hands. It would be interesting to learn if these articles are still in the possession of the Russian monarchy. In going round the place the Duke showed a keen interest in all he saw, whether in the school or at the mills, and asked several questions relating thereto. At the time of his visit he was engaged to Princess Charlotte, eldest daughter of the King of Prussia ; and while in the village he called at the store, purchased some specimens of goods manufactured from New Lanark yarns, and had them sent to the Princess. Nicholas seems to have made a favourable impression on Owen and his family, especially on his son, Robert, who gives an account of the visit : ' If my impressions, such as they were at fifteen, are trustworthy, there was nothing at that early age in the future emperor to indicate the arbitrary and cruel spirit which, in later years, marked his subjugation of Poland, and his armed intervention against the Hungarian patriots ; nothing in the appearance of the youth of twenty to prefigure the stern autocrat who was by and by to revive against his own subjects the capital punishment which had been humanely abolished by the 68 NEW LANARK Empress Elizabeth. There have been many Hazaels who, while yet unhardened by the habit of irresponsible power, might exclaim from the heart, "What! is thy servant a dog that he should do this great thing ? " ' ^ The other foreigners of rank included Princes John and Maximilian of Austria, the Duke of Hol- stein and his brother, the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, and many ambassadors ; among others Baron Just, Ambassador of Saxony, whose sovereign marked approval of the schemes by presenting Owen with a gold medal. ^ Threading My Way, p. 117. 69 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER IX Thk publication of The New Views of Society ; or. Essays on the Formation of Character, and the evidence given before the Committee of 1816 on the Factory Children, brought Owen into contact with the leading men of his time, such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Liverpool, Wilber- force, Mackintosh, etc. He also obtained as friend and patron the Duke of Kent, father to her late Majesty Queen Victoria, who so interested him- self in the schemes as to depute his physician, Dr. Henry Gray Macnab, in 1819, to visit New Lanark, and report on the whole establishment. Owen, through his public declaration in London, on the 21st August 1817, against all the religions of the world, had created for himself opposition and aversion. Macnab's visit, in consequence, was by many viewed with suspicion. The Duke being friendly to Owen, it was said that his aim in promoting the inquiry was intended more to dispel the growing public prejudice than for his Grace's satisfaction. Dr. Macnab, however, went to New Lanark, as he said, with the desire to divest himself of all undue partiality, on the one hand, in favour of the benevolent views of the philanthropist of the north ; 70 NEW LANARK and, on the other hand, to steer clear of the strong prejudices which existed against the new views. But Macnab, endowed as he was with the emotional temperament of the Celt, when at New Lanark came under the contagious influence of Owen and his establishment, and thereafter found nothing but good to report of the whole under- taking. He said : ' The effects produced on my mind were such, that during that time I was actually disqualified for examining coolly and deliberately the very objects of my visit.' In the end of the same year Dr. Macnab pviblished the result of his investigations at New Lanark under the comprehensive title — The New Views of Mr. Owen of Lanark impartially examined as rational means of ultimately promoting the produc- tive industry, comfort, moral improvement and happi- ness of the labouring classes of Society and of the Poor, and of the training of children in the way they should go. The book was dedicated to His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent and Strathearn, etc. In writing of the social condition of the com- munity, Dr. Macnab said : ' The government of the New Lanark colony is founded on the social relations of man. Everything anti-social is banished. Authority, grounded on opinion and esteem, is so eminently manifested in its effects by the young and the old that it is necessary to see the expressions of the fact in their conduct to believe the high degree of improvement pro- duced by it. The great important law in nature, 71 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM that servitude, when founded on opinion and esteem, is true liberty, is verified among the inhabitants of that happy colony in the most striking and interesting manner, producing a delightful order and harmony, embellished by expressions of innocent pleasure. It is impossible to witness such universal content, unity and consistency of conduct, without admiration. I candidly confess that, had I not visited New Lanark, I should have doubted of the possibility of the existence of the high degree of order, comfort, and happiness which actually existed among the working classes of men and their children. ' Instead of the plan of Owen having a tendency to destroy distinctions of rank, it presents actuallyi both among the young and the old, practically a complete system of order and of harmony. The manufacturing department appeared to me to be conducted upon principles simple, regular, and superior to any work of the kind I have seen. The different offices, occupations, and employment of agents and workmen, are arranged in the most advantageous manner, both for the proprietors of the establishment and the labouring classes. • •••••« ' Nothing is further from my intention than either to flatter or offend the passions, or even the prejudices, of men ; yet I must candidly beg leave to express an opinion in direct contradiction to that on which fears are entertained on the tendency of Mr. Owen's plans. Provided Mr. Owen con- 72 NEW LANARK tinues, as he has hitherto actually done in his colony, to encoxirage a tolerant spirit, and does not involve religious and philosophical speculations in his admirable practical system of training, I am convinced the influence arising from the social and moral habits of the people, particularly those of the children of the workmen, will prove highly beneficial both to the middle and higher ranks of society : for, even at present (if I be not deceived), it will be found that there exists among the inhabitants of New Lanark, young and old, more of the social virtues and less of the reigning vices which dishonoiu' at present, in a high degree, all ranks of society, more or less, than will be found in any community of the same population in any part of the civilised world.' ^ Of the schools and the children he wrote : — ' The children and youth in this delightful colony are superior in point of conduct and char- acter to all the children and youth I have ever seen. . . . What must these children feel, and how forcible must their example be on the minds of parents, particularly in cases which are not uncommon at New Lanark, of old and infirm parents supported by the industry of their children. Here the mutual relation between parents and their offspring takes its most interesting character, and the sentiment of filial affection is grafted on the fruit tree of duty and benevolence.' ^ ' New Views of Mr. Owen of Lanark, pp. 44-46^ 49. 2 74j^.^ p_ 137. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Attracted also by the educational and social ex- periments at New Lanark, the guardians of the poor in the township of Leeds appointed a deputation to examine and report on Owen's establishment, with a view of adopting his plan for the employ- ment of the poor. The deputation arrived in August 1819, a month prior to Dr. Macnab. One of the deputies afterwards wrote an interesting account of his visit in which he said : — ' After calling on Mr. Owen at Braxfield House, our party walked down to the village, and entered the children's playground. God bless their little faces ; I see them now. There were some bowling hoops, some drumming on two sticks — all engaged in some infantine amusement or other. Not a tear — not a wrangle. Peaceful innocence per- vaded the whole group. As soon as they saw us, curtseys and bows saluted us from all quarters. Mr. Owen seemed here to be among his own imaginary improved state of society : you know that he supposes that all human beings are the creatures of circumstances. Hence he contends, that if he had a colony of infants, by suppressing all erroneous reasoning and conclusions upon all subjects, and substituting truth, which is that of being taught to make no conclusion but what is thoroughly understood, he could make men to set at nought the things upon which they now place the most value, and unite in a community of interest, that would have the effect of producing brotherly love and unity through the world. 74 NEW LANARK These results and many others which I have not time to mention, Mr. Owen will have it, that he can bring about in society by the means of children. Then it is not to be wondered at that his character assumes traits of the highest benevolence, and that his bosom overflows with pleasure when he mixes among those germs of future men and women. From the playground we entered a large room for the purpose of play and amusement, when the weather will not permit them to be out of doors. Here the most imrestrained liberty is given for noise or amusement. On each side of the room are schools for this class of the children, whose ages are two years old to six. Some are taken to the upper school at so early a period as four years"; having attained the learning necessary for their advancement. From these schools we went up into the large room for dancing, marching, etc. Six boys, in Highland plaids and caps, entered, playing on the fife a quick march until all the boys and girls (for girls march here) entered the room. They were followed by other six fifers. The whole as they entered formed a square. After this the word of command is given, " Right Face, Left Face," etc. They then passed in review, marching round the room in slow and quick time. After marching, the boys and girls destined to sing, at the word of command, ran in a kind of dance, and formed two lines in the centre of the square. They then sung, accompanied by a clarionet : " When first this humble roof I knew," " The Birks of Aberfeldy," 75 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM "Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon," "Auld Lang Syne," ' There were fifty singers. After this they again formed a square ; and, the word of command being given for the dancers, they immediately came into the centre as the singers had done. Two or three dances were then given in a style which would not have disgraced some of our assemblies. These interesting beings were all barefoot ; but gracefulness was in their steps. The tear many a time started from my eyes during the exhibition of this innocent and heart-cheering scene. ' Next we entered the large school, which is on the same floor, and is capable of holding four hundred writers and accomptors. There is a pulpit at one end. It is neatly galleried, and will hold a congregation of twelve hundred. There were boys and girls from four to twelve years old, busily employed in reading, writing, accounts, plain-sewing, marking, etc. The greatest regularity and decorum prevailed. We heard children of four years old read well in the Testament; others of five read, and that well, historical pieces from various authors. The writers and counters were industrious, the writing was in good style ; and the ladies who were with us said the sewing and marking were very good. We then went and stood in a gallery in the room where the singers, etc., had been, and saw below us a professional man from Edinburgh teaching four barefooted girls, and four boys, the different steps, bows, curtseys, and 76 o ^ NEW LANARK dancing. It was delightful to see the gracefulness and ease with which these rustic sons and daughters of the working-classes made the obeisant compli- ment, or tripped on the light fantastic toe. They have two violin players, who were also professional men.' n ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER X The popularity of Owen for a time was phenomenal, and he might have remained longer on his elevated pedestal had not his public declarations wounded the religious sensibilities of so many people. In Lanarkshire the ardent covenanting spirit of our forefathers still prevailed, and the memory of Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge was ever kept green. It is, therefore, not surprising that Owen met with stern opposition in his own locality. The Presbytery of Lanark and the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland set their mark upon him. They did not recognise him as a sheep strayed from the fold, but rather as a wolf come to devour it. This opposition was led by the Rev. John Alton of Hamilton, who in 1824 pub- lished 'A Refutation of Owen's System.' In speaking of the education at New Lanark he gives evidence of the popular, though restricted, outlook on life at that period : — ' No doubt these acquirements (dancing and drill), especially when aided by two bands of music and three fiddlers, enable the children to make a tolerable appearance, on a field-day, before strangers : but they will prove of no 78 NEW LANARK practical utility to them in after life ; unless the New Lanark establishment shall become, which is not unlikely, a seminary to which the world may in the future be indebted for a liberal supply of expert dancing-masters, agile opera-girls, active drill-sergeants, strolling jugglers, and many other equally indispensable members of society. How- ever much their tartan dresses, healthy appearance, and the kindly manner in which they hang by the legs and arms of a stranger, tend to warm the heart and to suppress all suspicion of charlatanry, still the painful recollection recurs that they cannot spell, and can scarcely read. Allowing that the system of education could be fully acted upon, the effect of it would be to bring the boys into the mills, at twelve years of age, with a smattering of facts, and, having tasted it may be a tea-spoonful of the Pierian spring, but comparatively ignorant of God who made them, and the Christ who redeems them.' ^ The Presbytery of Lanark also sent forth fre- quent warnings of the danger likely to result from Owen's teachings : — ' It is proper that the world should be undeceived with regard to Mr. Owen's bold assertions con- cerning the results of the experiments which he boasts of having made. No other experiment has been made upon the people there than has been ^ Mr. Owen^s Objections to Christianity and New View of Society and Education refuted by a plain statement of facts, with hint to Archibald Hamilton of Dalzell, by the Rev. John Aiton (Edinburgh, James RobertPon and Co., 1824), pp. 24, 25. 79 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM made upon the people of London by his harangues and pubHcations. Much imposition has been prac- tised upon the public by a perpetual reference to New Lanark mills for a proof and illustration of the success of his schemes, and of the actual com- mencement of a " new society." A dangerous experiment, indeed, would have been made, but for seasonable interference, to suspend entirely religious and moral culture, and to give the children a smattering knowledge of some showy things for the sake of display before strangers. It is needless to say how children, educated in this way, would be acting their part as useful members of " old society." ' Owen, instead of trying to cast oil on the troubled waters that were gathering round him, but pro- claimed the louder his heretical opinions, in all places, at all times, and to all men. This line of action lost him the friendship and sympathy of the pious and of the influential classes of society ; while he was preached at from the pulpits, and censured by the newspapers. The London Times, which hitherto had favoured his schemes, turned against him after his denuncia- tion of all religions ; and, on the 22nd August 1817 (the morning following the famous meeting), a leader appeared on the subject in which we find the trenchant words : ' The curtain dropt yester- day upon Mr. Owen's drama, not soon, it is pro- bable, to be again lifted up. . . . Mr. Owen promised a paradise to mankind; but, as far as 80 NEW LANARK we can understand, not such a paradise as a sane mind would enjoy, or a disciple of Christianity could meditate without terror.' An ordinary man might have been crushed and saddened by such criticism and opposition, but Owen was neither depressed nor disheartened; he remained as sanguine as ever, and continued working out the plans of reform that were, as he thought, to bring about the millennium. Soon, however, the opposition was brought home to him in a more forcible manner. From the first the Quaker partners, especially William Allan, regarded Owen with suspicion. In the Life and Correspondence of William Allan, we find this entry : ' Robert Owen is in town and I am much distressed about him. He has blazoned abroad his infidel principles in all the public newspapers, and he wishes to identify me with his plans, which I have resisted in the most positive manner. I am resolved not to remain in the concern of New Lanark, unless it be most narrowly and constantly watched by some one on whom we can thoroughly rely.' This feeling of distrust seems to have been shared by the other partners; because in 1818 we find Allan and Foster on a visit to New Lanark in order to inquire into the rumour that the faith of the people was being weakened through the effect of Owen's teachings. The visit resulted in one of the clergymen in the locality being appointed ' watcher on the walls,' to report on the least F 8i ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM indication he saw in the way of introducing matters of doctrine contrary to revealed reUgion. During the visit Allan tells how one evening he addressed the people for three-quarters of an hour, in the large lecture room of the New Institution, on questions pertaining to their spiritual well-being. That same evening the people of the establish- ment took advantage of the occasion to present a written address to the London partners. The terms of the address were such as to show the good relations which, at that time, existed between the company and the workpeople. Outside the establishment the feeling against Owen was still spreading ; and before long unfavourable reports were again reaching the London partners, this time to the effect that Owen was neglecting New Lanark, as a commercial undertaking, and making it a nursery for maturing his social schemes. The partners, uneasy over these reports, deemed it advisable, in July 1822, to send a deputation, consisting of Allan, Foster, and Gibbs, to investi- gate the state of matters at New Lanark. Soon the pious feelings of the deputation were wounded by the system of education they witnessed in the schools. Exception was at once taken to the dancing, singing, drilling, and the use of the kilt as a dress. These, in their eyes, were very improper, and could only be productive of frivoKty ; and the mihtary display was repellent to a Quaker's desire for ' peace at anv price,' while the naked 82 NEW LANARK legs of the children shocked their sense of pro- priety. As a result of this investigation, Allan informed Owen that they had made up their minds to prevent him from further making New Lanark an infidel establishment. In consequence, a determined stand was taken against the schools. On returning to London, Allan wrote a charac- teristic letter to Owen : ' I yesterday received thy reply to my letter announcing our safe return to London. That reply awakened afresh all the sympathy which I have ever felt for thy character. Sorry indeed am I to see that our principles are diametrically opposite : and may that Great and Holy Being, who seeth not as man sees, so influence thy heart before the shadows of the evening close upon thee, that it may become softened and receive those impressions which He alone can give : then thou wilt perceive that there is indeed something infinitely beyond human reason and which human reason alone can never comprehend, though in itself perfectly reasonable. At present, however, it is quite plain to me that we must 'part.'' This led to a series of irritating negotiations, and eventually, on 21st January 1824, an agreement was signed by the partners of Robert Owen and Company. The agreement provided for the dis- missal of some of the old teachers and the appoint- ment of John Daniel to be master at a yearly salary of £150, his duty being to teach the children over six years of age. ^2 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM In the future no dancing-master was to be pro- vided at the company's expense, and no music and singing except instruction in psalmody ; Miss Whitwell to cease to be a servant of the company. The lectures on chemistry and mechanics, however, were to be continued, and suitable apparatus provided for illustrating the lectures. There is no doubt that the provision to retain the teach- ing of natural science was due to the influence of Allan : for he was a noted chemist, and lecturer on Natural and Experimental Philosophy at Guy's Hospital. The next clause referred to the dress of the children, in which the Highland kilt was tabooed, because the Quaker ideas of decency required that ' all males above six years of age should wear trousers or drawers.' The remaining clauses re- lated to the daily reading of the Scriptures, with other rehgious exercises once a week, and to a library to be formed for the use of the workpeople. The concluding clause had special reference to Owen's social schemes, ' No partner to deal with money belonging to the company for any schemes, without the sanction of the company.' ^ Robert Owen, like other men accustomed for a time to have their own way, could not brook what he considered an unwarranted interference with his cherished schemes. In consequence, he resigned the active management of the establishment. This difference of opinion with his partners, as on ■ Cowen's History of Lanark. 84 NEW LANARK the two former occasions, was not caused through business losses. On the contrary, the undertaking had been most successful from a financial point of view, as over £200,000 of profit had been realised, after paying five per cent, on the capital of the company. Owen and the other partners had thereby amassed a considerable fortune, and it was perhaps this easy way of making fortunes that gave Owen the distorted views of ordinary business forethought which characterised him during the rest of his life. It was undoubtedly a severe wrench for Owen to give up the cherished projects at which he had laboured so incessantly, and from which he ex- pected so much. However, the retirement from New Lanark in no way disturbed his singleness of purpose, or cooled his ardour for social reform. Indeed, it but provided him with freer and wider opportiuiities to fvu"ther the schemes to which his life and fortune were afterwards to be devoted. With Owen's departure from New Lanark the social schemes there came to an end. It is doubt- ful if the experiment would have proved successful, even had his strong personal influence continued to be exerted over the community ; because under the existing economic conditions his ideals were hardly attainable, and he would make no com- promise between what was desired and what was possible, but ever pressed forward in his sincere, though in some respects mistaken, efforts to benefit his fellow-men. 85 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Although the experiment at New Lanark was not successful in its results, yet it prepared the way for a better state of things. To that experi- ment we can trace the inception of modern SociaUsm — a Socialism which is the direct outcome of the industrial revolution of the age. We can point to New Lanark as the birthplace of co-operation and the nursery of the infant school, and to Owen as the pioneer of free education and free libraries. 86 NEW LANARK CHAPTER XI If flourishing trade in manufactures had brought wealth to the country, it had hkewise brought in its train the discontent of the people. The envy of other nations, especially that of the French Republic, had also been aroused; till Napoleon, in 1793, declared war against Britain. After a long series of harassing wars and threatened inva- sions of our shores, the fierce struggles at last terminated in the Battle of Waterloo, on the 18th June 1815. Peace having thereby been restored and the fear of invasion allayed, the country settled down to more humane pursuits. But very soon new ideas and new interests occupied men's thoughts : for the fruit of the French Revolution had left its indelible stain in the minds and hearts of the labouring classes. Consequently, there ensued a wistful yearning for reformation. But its realisa- tion has been slow. From these fateful years between 1793 and the overthrow of Napoleon at Waterloo we have to date the beginning of another form of war, almost equal in its significance— the war between capital and labour— in which capital has so far been dominant. And the present- 8; ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM day outcry for a more equitable solution of the social problem is the result. This is not surprising, because, after the long years of oppression and waiting, labour, hke other pent-up forces, is burst- ing into activity and asserting its dignity, and what it considers to be its rights. In pressing its claim, however, labour should keep in view the important factor in economics that, in the creating of wealth, labour has its responsibilities to fulfil as well as capital. By 1810 the industrial revolution which had been in progress was making itself felt. The introduc- tion of machinery had to a considerable extent ruined the small trades carried on in the cottages ; and, as a consequence, many of the rural popula- tion, in order to gain a livehhood, were forced to leave the country for the manufacturing centres. In the towns, to which the people had flocked, the housing accommodation could not meet the growing needs, and overcrowding naturally followed with all its attendant evils. The effect of this rapid increase of population, together with the fact that large numbers of women and children were also employed in the factories, resulted in the wages of the operatives being kept comparatively low; so that, while the manu- facturers were accumulating wealth, poverty and misery were spreading amongst the operatives. And there was no tribunal to which they could appeal. Owing to the ' Combination Act ' passed by Parliament in 1800, workmen could not band 88 NEW LANARK themselves together in order to redress their wrongs; as the Government, fearing that the Constitution would be attacked, looked on such combinations of workpeople as a crime. The Act, however, was repealed in 1824, and since then the workers have been free to unite in opposing conditions they may consider unfair. This gave rise to a new phase in the relations between employer and employed, and led to the formation of the organisations known as trades- unions, which have grown in strength and activity Avith the years. Such organisations are presently a strong influence in regulating the rates of wages and the hours of labour. But the real object aimed at, namely, that of a more equitable distri- bution of the wealth which labour helps to create, has not yet been attained. The social condition of the people went from bad to worse. There had been a series of unfavour- able harvests, and the wars had cut off foreign suppUes, which caused the price of food to increase to an enormous extent. Although, at the conclu- sion of the wars, the foreign markets were thrown open, and the price of grain fell to its normal level, yet, on the other hand, cotton goods were being produced far in excess of the demand ; and this brought about a serious restriction on the output of the factories. Thousands of opera- tives were thrown idle, mthout the prospect of other employment, and stood face to face with starvation. 89 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM The existing laws could not meet the new con- ditions, and Parliament, with Lord Liverpool as its nominal head, turned a deaf ear to the call for help, and made no attempt to grapple with the social problem. The main source of the poor relief was through the Church, by voluntary contributions and collections taken at the doors; the money so obtained being distributed in a kindly way by the elders, to whom the needs of the people were known. But in a time of such severe stress it was impossible for the Church to meet the ever increasing poverty that existed in the towns. Some authorities availed themselves of an old law of 1672 which gave discretionary power to levy an assessment for the support of the poor; and, in 1770, to meet the needs of the time, Glasgow resorted to the tax. The imposing of such a tax met with bitter opposition from many directions, for to be on the poor-roll was a fate which Scotsmen dreaded. When the Rev. Dr. Thomas Chalmers, in 1818, took over the newly established parish of St. John's, Glasgow, he resented, with all his vigoxu-, outside interference in a matter which he considered to be clearly the duty of the Church. He, therefore, resolved to proceed in his new charge on the old system of the Chvu-ch being the medium of relieving the poor. For a time the scheme succeeded, but ultimately the necessity of imposing a general 90 NEW LANARK assessment became evident. But, notwithstanding the crying need for reform, the deplorable state of matters prevailed until 1845, when the Scotch Poor Law Bill, after much opposition, received the sanction of Parliament. Such a lamentable state of matters awakened a desire in some generous minds to aid in the solution of the critical problem that faced the country ; and one of the first to come forward with a practical scheme was Robert Owen. The experience he had gained in the reforms effected at New Lanark well fitted him as a leader in such a movement ; and it followed that any views he might advance on the question would be seriously entertained. The Association for the Relief of the Manufactur- ing and Labouring Poor took the initiative by convening a meeting, with the Duke of York as chairman. After reviewing the situation the meet- ing appointed a committee, of which the Arch- bishop of Canterbury was convener, to inquire as to practical measures of relief, and, as Owen's sympathies were well known, his name was placed on the list of members. The committee met on the following day, when Owen took the opportunity of stating his opinions. At the request of the convener he consented to draw up a report embodying the views he had laid before the meeting, along with his proposals to remedy the existing troubles. By the spring of 1817 the report was presented to the Archbishop's 91 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM committee ; and it constituted an epoch-making document, since it contained an outline of Owen's great plan for the regeneration of the world and the bringing of the kingdom of Heaven upon earth. The immediate cause of the distress he attributed to the depreciation of human labour, occasioned by the general introduction of machinery, and to the unexpected effects which followed the over- production of goods during the wars. Machinery had added to the power of creating wealth equal to two hundred millions of active, stout, well- trained labourers, or more than ten times the population of the British Isles. The New Lanark establishment itself was an illustration of this ; where a population of not over two thousand souls produced as much as the existing population of Scotland could manufacture, by hand labour, fifty years before. The war demand for the productions of labour having ceased, markets could no longer be found, and the revenues of the world were inadequate to purchase that which a power so enormous in its effects had produced. A diminisliing de- mand consequently followed, and, mechanical power proving cheaper than human labour, men were reduced to working for wages inade- quate to maintain the individual in ordinary comfort. While it would be foolish, he contended, to discard the use of mechanical power in any one 92 NEW LANARK country, still, on the other hand, it would be an act of gross tyranny were any government to permit mechanical power to starve thousands of human beings. The whole circumstances pointed to the absolute necessity of a change in the internal policy regarding the poor and working-classes. And any plan that might be devised for the amelioration of their condition must prevent the children from acquiring bad habits, and find means to give them only good and useful ones by train- ing and instruction. It was also needful that proper labour be provided for the adults, and their labour and expenditure so directed as to pro- duce the greatest benefit to themselves and to society. These advantages, he pointed out, could only be introduced into practice by an arrange- ment that woiild unite in one establishment a population of from one thousand to fifteen hundred. A drawing representing one of the proposed establishments with the surrounding land was submitted along with the report. The sketch shows a huge mass of buildings, two stories in height, grouped round a large open quadrangle, with a range of buildings in the centre forming two parallelograms. Three of the sides were to provide rooms for the married people, divided into groups of four. Each room was to be large enough to accommodate a man, his wife, and two children; the fourth side being used as dormitories for all the children exceeding two in a family, or above 93 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM three years of age, with special apartments in the centre for the superintendents of the children. At one end of this range of buildings there was to be a hospital for the sick, and at the other end a guest-house for the accommodation of visitors. In the centre of the other two sides of the quad- rangle were to be apartments for the superinten- dents, schoolmasters, doctors, and ministers. And on the third side, storerooms for all the articles required for use. The drawing indicates that it was the intention to place within the quadrangle three large buildings, each marked by a spire rising above the surround- ing square — the central portion comprising the public kitchen, mess rooms, and all other necessary accommodation connected therewith. To the right were to be the infant school, lecture room, and place for public worship ; and the building on the left to contain the school for the older children, library, and recreation rooms. The vacant space within the quadrangle was to be laid out as gardens and recreation ground, and the whole surrounded by belts of plantation. Beyond these were to be the workshops, stables, wash-houses, etc., besides two separate farm buildings, with conveniences for corn mills, malting, and brewing. The report next examined the financial aspect of the proposed undertaking, and gave the following detailed estimate of the expenditure likely to be incvirred : 94 NEW LANARK ' Schedule of Expenses for forming an establishment for twelve hundred men, women, and children. If the Land be Purchased 1200 acres of land, at ^30 per acre, .... ,£36,000 Lodging apartments for 1200 persons, . . . 17,000 Three public buildings within the quadrangle, . . 11,000 Manufactory, slaughter-house, and wash-house, . . 8,000 Furnishing 300 lodging-rooms at ifi'S each, . . 2,400 Furnishing kitchen, schools, and dormitories, . . 3,000 Two farming establishments with corn mills and malting and brewing appendages, . . . 5,000 Making the interior of the square and roads, . . 3,000 Stock for the farm under spade cultivation, . . 4,000 Contingencies and extras, ..... 6,600 £96,000 which gives a capital to be advanced of £80 per head, or, at five per cent., £4 for each individual per year. But, if the land be rented instead of purchased, a capital of only £60,000 would be required.' Owen, with the optimism of a company pro- moter, calcvilated that the capital advanced would be quickly repaid. The report concluded with a suggestion that the matter should be brought before Parliament without loss of time, so as to prevent injury to the resources of the coxmtry; and that the money necessary to purchase the land, erect the buildings, and stock the farms, might be obtained by consolidating the funds of some of the public charities, or by borrowing from individuals who might have surplus capital 95 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM From this source he anticipated would arise a superabundance of funds and labour. ' The pro- posal,' he said, 'would effectually relieve the manu- facturing and labouring poor from their present deep distress, without violently or prematurely interfer- ing with existing institutions of society. It would permit mechanical inventions and improvements to be carried to any extent : for, by the proposed ar- rangement, every improvement in mechanism would be rendered subservient to and aid human labour. And, lastly, every part of society would be essen- tially benefited by this change in the condition of the poor. . . , ' Some plan founded on such principles as have been developed herein appears absolutely necessary to secure the well-being of society, as well as to prevent the afflicting spectacle of thousands pining in want, and amidst a superabundance of means to well train, educate, employ, and support in comfort, a population of at least four times the present numbers.' ^ Such was Robert Owen's plan for founding ' agricultvtral and manufacturing villages of unity and mutual co-operation,' or what Alton character- ised as ' Owen's parallelogram castles in the air.' 1 Autobiography, Vol. I. a, pp. 54-64. 96 NEW LANARK CHAPTER XII By the time Owen presented his report to the Archbishop's committee, the House of Commons had appointed a Select Committee to report on the administration of the Poor Laws. With the view of taking evidence this committee met during February 1817, and, as the subject of Owen's report came within the scope of their dehberations, he consented to present it to that body. He also offered to appear as a witness, but, for obvious reasons, it was deemed advisable not to take his evidence ; a decision which surprised Owen and led him to conjecture that some under- currents were at work to baffle his plans. When the report appeared it contained a review of Owen's system. It pointed out the disastrous results likely to follow from the State undertaking the responsi- bihty of finding work for those who could not find it for themselves. Notice was taken of the attractive appearance of a scheme which held out such bright hopes for the future ; but, owing to its experimental nature and the enormous cost involved, the committee contended that it could not be seriously entertained. This was another slight to Owen, but he was G 97 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM not to be hindered. He had put his hand to the plough, and was determined to reach the head of the furrow. Having failed to obtain the weighty influence of a Select Parliamentary Committee, he had recourse to the press. The full report appeared in the Times and Morning Post of 9th April 1817. His plans were favourably commented on by both papers ; perhaps not from a disinterested motive, as Owen had ordered thirty thousand copies over the ordinary circulation. These he sent broadcast over the whole country to members of Parliament, ministers of religion, magistrates, and leading persons in the cities and towns .^ There is an old proverb which says, ' He that builds by the wayside has many critics,' and perhaps the proverb may be applied to the writing of books. At least, this was the fate that followed the publication of Robert Owen's report. In many directions, where he looked for help, his plans were damned with faint praise ; and, where he expected sympathy, he was offered criticism in the newspapers. In a letter to the Times, under date 25th July 1817, Owen, by means of an imaginary examination, set aside in a superior manner all the arguments of his critics. When the ghostly counsel put to the witness the question — ' Will not yoxu- model village of co-operation produce a dull uniformity of character, repress genius, and leave the world without hope of future improvement ? ' Owen ^ Autobiography , Vol. I. p. 156. 98 NEW LANARK replied, ' It appears to me that qviite the reverse would follow ; that the same means provided in these establishments will give every stimulus to bring forth and to perfect the best parts only of every character, by furnishing the inhabitants with such valuable instruction as they could not acquire by any other means, and by afiord- ing sufficient leisure and freedom from anxiety to promote the natural direction of their powers. ... ' As for the probability of a dull uniformity of character being produced, let us for a moment imagine individuals placed as the inhabitants of these villages will be, and contemplate the characters that must be formed solely by the cir- cumstances that will surround them. From the hour they are born, treated with uniform kindness, directed by reason and not mere caprice, weakness and imbecility : not one habit to be again unlearned ; the physical powers trained and cultivated to attain their natiu'al strength and health ; the mental faculties furnished with accurate data by all the useful facts that the ingenuity and experience of the world have acquired and demonstrated, aided by the power of minds trained to draw only just and consistent conclusions. . . . ' Children so trained, men so circumstanced, would soon become, not a dull, uniform race, but beings full of health, activity, and energy ; endowed by means of instruction with the most kind and amiable dispositions, and who, being 99 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM trained free from these motives, could not form one exclusive wish for themselves. ... So far from genius being repressed, it will receive every aid to enable it to exert itself with unrestrained delight, and with the highest benefits to mankind. In short, experience will prove that no objection against the New Views of Society will be found more futile than that which supposes it not competent, nor calculated to train men to attain the utmost improvement in arts, science, and every kind of knowledge.' ^ To the other hostile criticisms of his plans he was indifferent. When, however, his private character and reputation were attacked, he resolved to meet his critics face to face. ' But as absurd and ridicu- lous insinuations now set afloat are intended to retard the work I have undertaken, they must be met, and they have determined the next step that I shall adopt, and about which I was deliberating. It is that a public meeting shall be held in the City of London Tavern on Thursday the 14th day of August, to take into consideration a plan to be proposed to relieve the country from its present distress, to remoralise the poor, reduce the poor- rates, and abolish pauperism and all its injurious consequences. At that meeting I invite those parties, and any others whom they can enlist in their cause, to come forward and make everything they have to say against me publicly known. I wish to gratify them to the utmost of their desires, ' Autobiography, Vol. \.a, pp. 72-73. lOO NEW LANARK and as they may not possess all the requisites for the purpose, I will give them the clue by which they may pursue and discover all the errors of my past life,' Here followed a sketch of his former life, and he further added : ' I wish that every- thing which can be said against the individvial may be iirged by those who are desirous so to do, in order to have done with these trifling and insigni- ficant personalities, and that I may proceed to the accomplishment of that which is of real practical utility. Let them, therefore, at such public meeting bring forward every action of mine that has displeased them. I only ask that the attack shall be fair, open, and direct. It shall then be met, and shall be overcome. ... I shall not ask for or accept any quarter. My purpose has been long fixed, and my determination is not to give any quarter to the errors and evils of the existing systems — civil, political, and religious.' ' Under the circumstances the meeting could not be otherwise than of a conflicting nature. In concluding his address Owen moved a resolution calhng for the appointment of a committee to investigate the plans, and to obtain subscriptions in order to set up an experimental community. The chief opposition was led by Major Torrens, foUowed, curiously enough, by members of the Reform party — Henry Hunt, Mr. Wooler, editor of the Black Dwarf, Mr. Waithman, and WiUiam Hone, author of the Every Day Book. No one ' Autobiography, Vol. I. a, pp. 81-82. lOI ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM spoke in favottr of the plans ; and ultimately an amendment to Owen's motion was made by Mr. Waithman, ascribing the distress to heavy taxation and bad government, and calling on the Ministry for retrencliment and reform. The motion was, however, lost when put to the meeting. This angry opposition stung Owen to the quick, and he wisely suggested that the meeting be adjourned until the 24th of the same month. The second meeting was looked forward to with interest by the public, and, although it was held during the day, the hall was densely crowded, while hundreds could not gain admission. Owen opened his address by making reference to the former meeting : ' The last meeting,' he said, ' terminated under circumstances of some disorder, but I trust and look forward with hope that these assemblages will be in future conducted with more order and decorum. I was not prepared to find, as I then discovered, so very little practical knowledge among some of the prominent speakers of the day ; they have yet to acquire all the ele- ments of the system of political economy. I had indeed abundant proof at the last meeting that they have not made one step in advance in the right course, to enable them to arrive at one useful practical result. I hope, therefore, all the supporters of prematm'C reform who are here will listen to what I am going to say, as they would attend to any one in whom they have full confidence, and their welfare alone was the object of the dis- I02 NEW LANARK course. You say that you wish to improve the condition of the poor and working-classes, by giving them more freedom, and by reducing the taxes and expenses of government. We will sup- pose both these apparently important objects gained ; that the most ignorant and licentious had full liberty to act as they pleased, and that the expense of government and taxes were diminished ten millions a year ; would you, do you think, be better off than you are now ? You would not ; but the reverse would soon be experienced. The ten millions now raised by the Government, which they expend again in some particular channel for labour, would be withdrawn, and all those labourers would be thrown upon the parishes, and thereby create new sources of misery and degradation.' ^ He next traced, as he had formerly done, the various causes which brought about the distress amongst the labouring classes, and then pro- ceeded to describe the measures he proposed to remedy the distress and to improve the future condition of the poor. He concluded by making known his religious views ; a course which was forced on him by the sectarian opposition. Here he made the fatal mistake of asserting that all the religious beliefs of the world contained much that was erroneous. ' Then, my friends, I tell you, that hitherto you have been prevented from knowing what happiness really is, solely in consequence of the errors — gross errors — ^that have been combined ^ Autobiography, Vol. I. a, pp. 108-109. 103 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM with the fundamental notions of every religion that has hitherto been taught to men. And, in consequence, they have made man the most incon- sistent and the most miserable being in existence. By the errors of these systems he has been made a weak imbecile animal ; a furious bigot and a fanatic ; or a miserable hypocrite ; and should these quahties be carried, not only into the pro- jected villages, but into Paradise itself, a Paradise would he no longer found. . . . Therefore, unless the world is now prepared to dismiss all its erroneous religious notions, and to feel the justice and necessity of publicly acknowledging the most unlimited religious freedom, it will be futile to erect villages of union and mutual co-operation ; for it will be vain to look on this earth for inhabi- tants to occupy them, who can understand how to live in the bond of peace and unity, or who can love their neighbour as themselves : whether he be Jew or Gentile, Mahomedan or Pagan, Infidel or Christian : any religion that creates one particle of feehng short of this is false, and must prove a curse to the whole human race. ' And now, my friends, for such I will consider you to the last moment of my existence, although each of you were armed for my immediate destruc- tion ; such, my friends, and no other, is the change that must take place in your hearts and minds, and all your conduct, before you can enter into those abodes of peace and harmony ; you must be attired in proper garments before you can 104 NEW LANARK partake of all the comforts and blessings with which they will abound. ' Such are my thoughts and conclusions, and I know that you will hereafter ponder them well in yoTir minds, and truth will 'prevail." ^ Never had inspired reformer more confidence in himself than Robert Owen. But he did not know his limitations, or he would not have been so indiscreet as to discuss the question of creeds in such a free and confiding manner. The creed in which a man has been nurtured cannot be lightly cast off like an old garment ; and to expect the inhabitants of the projected village of unity to put aside their religious prejudices as they entered the gate was contrary to all reason. Owen, how- ever, was not content to accept human nature as it was ; but looked forward to the millennium dawning on the morning that his happy village was opened. The address, as at the previous meeting, was followed by a debate in which Major Torrens and Messrs. Wooler and Waithman again took part. On this occasion, however, Mr. Waithman's amend- ment when put to the meeting was carried by a large majority. Owen subsequently published a letter in the London daily newspapers on September 10th, 1817. In the further development of the plans as con- veyed in that letter, he seems to have made con- siderable modifications and revisions on the first ' Autobiography, Vol. I. a, pp. 115-116. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM proposals. The scheme so amended was not solely for the imemployed ; it went much further, and proposed nothing short of a complete revolution of the social state of all classes of society. In the developed plan the villages were to be for both the rich and the poor, and these were divided into four classes. The first class from the parish paupers were to be arranged in the following order : ' (a) The parish poor — properly so called — that is, the infirm and aged who could not help themselves in any way, and for whom everything had to be done. ' (&) The children of the poor, whom the parishes were compelled to support ; which in general was accomplished at great expense, and with little or no benefit either to the children or to society. ' (c) Those who could labour and were willing to work, but who could not procure employment ; and whom, therefore, the parishes had to support.' The foregoing descriptions of poor were intended to be under parish direction, and combined, in cer- tain proportions, into ' Parish Employment Settle- ments.' These establishments would be the only mode of administering parish relief. The second, or working-class without property, would be employed in and for the voluntarv and independent associations of the fourth class. The third, or working-class, was to be com- posed of labourers, artisans, and tradesmen, with io6 NEW LANARK property from £100 to £2000 each : these to form twelve voluntary associations or divisions. The first division would consist of members in possession of £100 each, who for one year, or until the village residences were prepared, would continue to main- tain themselves. The divisions of this class, from the second to the twelfth inclusive, would be composed of individuals and families who, besides maintaining themselves until the new residences were ready, could advance from £200 to £2000 each person ; and who, on joining their respective divisions, were willing to enter upon the regular employment of the establish- ment. All their occupations would be as healthy, pleasant, and productive as it was possible to make them ; and mechanism and science would be extensively used to do all the work that was over- laborious, disagreeable, or in any way injxu-ious to human nature. The accommodation would be in proportion to the capital advanced by the individual ; and ultimately no one could fail to attain the highest division of the voluntary associations, and render mechanism and science the only slaves or servants of men. The fourth class, or voluntary independent association, was to be composed of persons (unAvilling or unable to be productively occupied) possessing from £1000 to £20,000 each, and who by their capital would employ the second class without property. These might be divided into associations, in proportion to the amount of their property. 107 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM The combined associations were to be governed by a general committee, and seven sub-committees. Members of the second class would not be eligible to be elected, or to elect, to the general committee for the government of the establishment. But the second, or working-class, would elect seven out of their own number, who, with one appointed out of each of the sub-committees, would form another sub-committee, who would choose a head among themselves by ballot. The committee, so chosen, would superintend all arrangements and trans- actions between the employer and the employed. It was to be understood that, in all cases, those employed would be well provided with the neces- saries of life, and have a reasonable proportion of recreation, during seven years. At the termination of that period each adult of the second class, who had attained the age of twenty-five years, was to receive £100 from the community to qualify him to become a member of the first division of the third or working-class with property. If, however, he remained five years longer, he would be given £200 to enable him either to become a member of the second division of the third class, or to return to the old state of society and provide for himself. Contemporaneously with the letter to the newspapers Owen published a broadsheet, which contained a curious table showing the various combinations of sects and parties into which the community might be divided. This list embraced almost every known shade and colour of religious io8 No. 1. No. 2. No. 5. No. 14. No. 20. No. 37. No. 120. No. 135. NEW LANARK belief and political conviction, so that no one could have difficulty in selecting a suitable environment. There were to be one hundred and forty com- binations, such as : Arminian Methodists and violent Ministerialists. Seceders and of no party. Jews and moderate Whigs. Catholics and violent Ministerialists. Presbyterians and moderate Whigs. High Church and violent Ministerialists. Unitarians and moderate Reformers. Swedenborg and violent Reformers. N.B. — Those who shall be solely governed by the religion of charity can, and will, unite with all or any of the above sects or parties.' ^ By that time Owen evidently had seen the necessity of respecting a man's confirmed opinions, either religious or political ; for in no sphere of human relationship is there so much bitter feeling and personal strife displayed as in theology and in politics. The letter concluded with a notice intimating that offices would be opened in London, and other places throughout the kingdom, where persons wishing to become members of the new villages could be enrolled. When entering their names they were to state in which sect and party they desired to be classed, and so soon as a sufficient number of members, say five hundred, had entered, ' No. III. of a contemporary broadsheet, where a plan of the proposed village also appeared. 109 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM the operations for one of the estabhshments were to be commenced. The table of sects and parties was received in all directions, as he anticipated in a note to the table, with ' jest and ridicule.' Though the several groups seem to have been carefully worked out, yet the idea of suggesting such combinations of persons is extremely grotesque. Owen perhaps compiled the table by way of caricaturing the views of his critics, at any rate it is inconceivable how a man of his acumen could have made the suggestion in a serious manner. But, on the other hand, it is quite in line with the silent monitor system of recording character as used in the New Lanark mills. no NEW LANARK CHAPTER XIII When men's minds are heated with enthusiasm over a certain object, it is difficult for them to be tolerant of those who are opposed to their cherished aims. So it was with Owen. He meted out no charity to his opponents. But this display of intolerance was accidental and not native to him.. It had only been acquired under the stress of the circumstances in which he felt himself placed through the unwarranted attack on his private character. It was not long till he saw the error of his ways. On the morning after the second meeting, as he tells in his Autobiography, he met Henry Brougham, afterwards Lord Brougham, who greeted him with the remark, ' How the devil, Owen, could you say what you did yesterday at your public meeting ? If any of us of the Liberal party in the House of Commons had said half as much we should have been burned alive — and here you are quietly walking as if nothing had occurred.'^ Owen felt the rebuke, coming as it did from a man like Brougham who had hitherto favoured his schemes, and he was anxious to make amends; ' Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 164. Ill ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM especially to modify the harsh and blank words he had used in declaring his personal attitude towards religion. Therefore, by way of an explana- tion he added a postscript to the letter of 10th September, which was published separately, and in which he made known that he was not an enemy to all religion; but, on the contrary, that his efforts would be directed to secure the interests of true religion throughout the world. Only, how- ever, when the many errors which had been added by weak, mistaken, or designing men were with- drawn from the Christian system would he become a Christian. This annotation did not appease the opposition, inasmuch as Owen still retained that air of mental superiority which had already become so offensive. Disappointed that his schemes had not met with the success he expected, and feeling that he had lost caste with the upper classes, Owen returned to New Lanark, and for a time his name did not appear prominently before the public. This was a critical juncture in the career of Robert Owen and the future of Socialism. He stood, as it were, at the parting of the ways. Had he so desired, he might have retired into private life, and lived in ease and comfort on the fortune he had made at New Lanark. But, true to his convictions, he resolved to continue his efforts to remedy the miserable condition of matters that existed among the labouring poor, and, for this purpose issued another appeal. On this occasion, I 12 NEW LANARK however, the appeal went forth to the labouring classes instead of, as formerly, to the upper classes. It is somewhat paradoxical that Owen should have sought, and, for a time, gained, the assistance of the upper classes in forging a weapon for their own destruction. He seems to have assumed that the extensive character of his plans would require an amount of capital that the working-classes could not furnish, hence he wished to be associated with high dignitaries of Chm-ch and State, and persons of influence and wealth. But, subsequently, he discovered that he had trusted a broken reed. The appeal to the working-classes was issued in the form of an address published in the Star news- paper of April 15th, 1819. There were none of the objectionable references which characterised his former addresses. It was a clear call, containing words of promise and hope to many sons of toil, inviting them to take an active part in their own regeneration. He pleaded that they should be tolerant towards the upper classes, and that they should not look on the rich as their natural enemies; but rather regard them as victims, like them- selves, bound in the fetters of tradition over which they had no control. ' They are,' he said, ' trained from the cradle to take pride in themselves for pursuing measm"es which deprive the great mass of mankind of the most essential benefits that belong to human nature, in order that they, a most insignificant part in point of numbers, may be distinguished by advantages over their fellows.' H 113 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM ' The privileged classes,' he continued, ' of the present day throughout Europe are not influenced so much by a desire to keep you down, as by an anxiety to retain the means of securing to them- selves a comfortable and respectable enjoyment of life. Let them distinctly perceive that the ameliorations which you are about to experience are not intended or calculated to inflict any real injury on them or their posterity ; but, on the con- trary, that the same measures which will improve you must, as they assuredly will, essentially benefit them, and raise them in the scale of happiness and intellectual enjoyment, and you will speedily have their co-operation to carry the contemplated arrangement into effect.' ^ The working-classes did not respond to the call. Any appeal, either social or political, made to the masses, unless accompanied by noisy rhetoric, is usually ineffectual. Before any forward move- ment takes place on a subject of public interest there must exist a strong conviction in the minds of the people, and this is only brought about by the agitation of some men animated by strong con- victions, who go forth and proclaim the message to others. As no such form of agitation had been conducted on behalf of Owen's schemes, the address received little consideration beyond a friendly notice in the newspapers. Owen was surprised at such indifference, as he had always been the friend of the working-classes, evidently not ■ Autobiography, Vol. I. a, p. 229. 114 NEW LANARK being aware that what he called the ' democratic and much mistaken leaders ' had taught them that he was their enemy and an associate of the rich, and that his aim in foiuiding villages of unity and co-operation was to make slaves of the workers. His next move was to seek to bring the schemes personally before Parliament. Early in the year 1819, the seat for the united burghs of Lanark, Selkirk, Peebles, and Linlithgow, had become vacant through the death of Sir J. B. Riddle, and Owen came forward as the candidate in opposition to Henry Monteith of Carstairs, then Lord Provost of Glasgow. In his address to the electors, dated 24th April, he based his claim for their support mainly on the special knowledge he possessed of the best means for remedying the existing distress of the country. The address concluded in Owen's characteristic manner : ' These are the motives which urge me to desire a seat in the House of Commons, and I shall greatly prefer receiving it from the district in which I have resided for the last twenty years. You know my pretensions, and I wish not to deceive you in any respect. I have no patronage ; I expect none ; for, whosoever may be in power, I will not ask a private favour for myself or others. If, under these circumstances, you believe my services in the House of Commons can be of public utiUty, I shall be gratified by your support.' ^ ' Autobiography, Vol. I. a, p. 332. 11^ ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM He was not elected, owing to the determined opposition of the Church party. At the general election which followed on the death of the King in 1820, he again contested the seat, but with a similar result. On that occasion, he attributed his defeat to four of the electors of Old Lanark having been won over by the bribery of his opponents. However, if he was not fated to enter Parliament himself, he had still influential friends in high quarters on whom he relied ; particularly the Duke of Kent, who, as already mentioned, caused searching inquiries to be made by his physician, Dr. Macnab, as to Owen's character and the nature of the operations at New Lanark. The Duke seems to have been impressed with Owen's integrity and desire for the common weal, and a friendly correspondence with Owen ensued. On the 22nd October 1819, the Duke wrote : ' As to myself, you know how sincerely I am engaged in the cause ; and if any measures are to be taken in Parliament with respect to it which should render it indispensably necessary that I should be able to vouch for facts from having had ocular demonstration of them, I shall not hesitate — although we intend wintering in the west, in order that the Duchess may have the benefit of tepid sea bathing, and our infant Victoria that of sea air, on the fine coast of Devonshire, during the months of the year that are so odious in London — to post down to Scotland for the purpose ; and if ii6 NEW LANARK the Duchess's health continues good, and there is no cause to render her travelling imprudent, I have no doubt but she will most readily accompany me. In the meantime, I am delighted to find that you have so many visits from individuals whose suffrages will be of importance : the more your estabUshment is seen, the more I am convinced it must carry with it the full and entire approval of every benevolent heart.' Writing again from Kensington Palace, 31st October 1819, the Duke, in reply to Owen's invita- tion to visit New Lanark, said : ' Pray express to Lady Mary Ross how grateful the Duchess and myself feel for her kind offer of her house, Bonning- ton, in your vicinity in case we should be enabled to pay you a visit diu"ing the period of her absence in South Britain. ... I fear, with every wish on both our parts to do so, we shall not be able to avail ourselves of it, at least for the present year. . . . But though this pleasure must be deferred, I by no means think of giving it up. On the contrary, I look forward with pleasure to realising it at a future day.^ I congratulate you upon having had a visit from some of the particular friends of Mrs. Fry, as I am sure they can only have gone to New Lanark with motives of bene- volence. I think it also extremely fortunate that the celebrated Mr. Ellis of Kent has determined upon viewing your estabHshment in person; for ' The Duke had not the opportunity to fulfil his promise ; he died on 23rd January 1820. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM it is the opinion of such valuable men as he is, which, if favourable, must give strength to the cause. Lord Torrington, who is to accompany him is certainly a very worthy, well-meaning man ; but I am afraid you will not find the judgment you will in his travelling companion. However, it is a satisfaction to find one nobleman has thought it worth his while to undertake the journey, and I hope his example will be followed by a great many more ; being satisfied that nothing can tend so much to establish a conviction of all the good that may result from forming establish- ments upon your principles as ocular demonstration. And I say this with the more feeling, being strongly impressed, like you, with the belief that the change contemplated for the relief of the poor of the coimtry must indeed be made more speedily and generally than many seem to anticipate, if the object is to restore the coiuitry to a state of order and tranquillity before it is too late. My only fear is that Ministers, having chosen to draw the sword, will tm-n a deaf ear to the representations of those who, from motives of benevolence, like yourself, and viewing the matter with unbiassed judgment, would adopt measures of a different tendency.' The influence of the Duke, however, did not help forward the cause. At a meeting in the Freemasons' Hall, London, on July 26th, 1819, over which the Duke presided, a committee was appointed to report on Owen's plans. The com- ii8 NEW LANARK mittee consisted of the Dukes of Kent and Sussex, Sir W. de Crespigny, Sir Robert Peel, John Smith, and several other members of Parliament, along with Major Torrens, and Davi d Ricardo ; and at once they entered on themquiry. By the 11th of August an appeal was made to the public for sub- scriptions to commence an establishment on Owen's plan by way of experiment. The committee prefaced the appeal by stating that they were proceeding on the assurance that the public mind was fully impressed with the fact that the increasing evils of pauperism called fox some effectual remedies. Such remedies they con- sidered would be found in the proposal of Owen, by which employment could be provided for the labouring poor, principally in agricultural opera- tions ; but that in the first instance a sum of £100,000 would be required. Without going into details, they recommended that subscriptions to that amount be obtained by loans bearing interest at five per cent. — a large portion of which would be invested in land. Subscribers to the amount of £50 and upwards would have the privilege of acting and voting on the business of the society. In order to explain further and justify the plans, the committee, on the 23rd August, published an address for the consideration of the public ; in which it was announced that in the proposed establish- ment there would be both agricultural and manu- facturing employment, but that agriculture would form the basis. By way of gaining the confidence 119 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM of the public, the statement was made that Owen offered to take upon himself the superintendence of the establishment without deriving any benefit or profit, and that the committee had every reason to suppose he would proceed with cautious steps. The address then took notice of the many objections urged against Owen's system, and observed that none of the reasons stated appeared to be well founded. With reference to Owen's opinions on religious matters, the committee, desirous to be charitable, remarked that after careful inquiry they had found that in no instance had he endeavoured, by word or deed, to alter the religious opinions of his workpeople at New Lanark. On the contrary, the company paid for the performing of divine service in Gaelic to the Highland workmen ; and Owen's OAvn house was a house of daily prayer. ' His character,' they said, ' is distinguished by benevolence, perfect sincerity, and undisturbed tranquillity of temper.' The statement was next made that it was a mistake to suppose that Owen's plans involved a community of goods and equalising of rank. In the new establishment there would be no alteration on the existing laws of property, and therefore no tendency to equalise rank. Whatever opinion Owen may have expressed in favoiu- of this state of society, he did not regard it as essential to the success of an establishment such as now proposed, nor would he make this a condition in accepting the superintendence. 1 20 NEW LANARK In reply to the objection that the scheme would destroy independence, break up domestic habits, deaden faculties, and convert men into mere machines, the committee explained that the objec- tion referred to that part of the arrangement whereby the meals of the inhabitants were to be in common, and pointed out that the method was only suggested on the grounds of economy and domestic convenience. However, on that question there would be no compulsion or persuasion, as the workmen would receive their wages in money, and the manner of spending it be left to their own discretion. Even with so favourable and promising reports from such a representative committee the scheme did not find favour with the public, since, of the £100,000 desired, only £8000 was promised. As a result of this apathy the project had to be abandoned, and the committee was accordingly discharged on 1st December 1819. Owen, however, still clung to hope, as Sir W. de Crespigny's motion for a Select Committee to inquire into his plan was about to be brought before Parliament. According to Hansard, a debate on the question took place on the 16th December ; the motion being seconded by Lord Archibald Hamilton, the member for the county of Lanark. It was strongly supported by Brougham, Smith, and Ricardo, but opposed bitterly by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Wilberforce. All the speakers to the motion paid a high 121 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM tribute to Owen's character, and to the extra- ordinary work he had accomphshed at New Lanark. Brougham spoke as if he had a brief for Owen : ' Of Mr. Owen I do not hesitate to state my conviction that a more honest, amiable, and simple-minded man is not to be found on the face of the earth. He is indeed a rare character ; for, though a projector, he is candid to a degree.' The arguments for the opposition were based mainly on the economic aspect of the question, and no personal reflections were made until the Chancellor read to the House the extracts from Owen's unfortunate speech of 21st August 1817. Wilberforce followed, and contended that the success at New Lanark was not so much due to Owen's good government as to the ' good old system of Christianity.' On a division the motion was lost by 149 to 16. Although his optimism had carried him so far, the result did not come altogether as a surprise to Owen. He knew from past experience that the parliamentary mill grinds slowly ; since the bill he promoted to regulate child-labour in factories had taken five years to pass between the convex and concave millstones of the lower and the upper Houses, and at the end had come out mutilated almost beyond recognition. The measure had been intended to apply to all descriptions of mills and factories, whereas the Act as passed only applied to cotton mills ; while the limit of age for children to be employed in the mills was fixed at 122 NEW LANARK nine years instead of ten and a half as provided for in the bill. The provision for the education of the children, and the clause relating to the inspection of mills by government officials, were deleted. Under the circumstances, Owen thought it well not to press the matter further on the legis- latiu-e, but to bide his time and watch patiently the trend of events for a fitting opportunity to bring his scheme again before Parliament. For the immediate furtherance of his plans, he had to turn in another direction. 123 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XIV Although Owen's schemes were being subjected to the adverse currents of criticism in the House of Commons and elsewhere, on the other hand, by the fame of his own httle experiment, people from all parts of the world were still being attracted to New Lanark, like pilgrims to a shrine. By that time Owen had become a well-known personality throughout Lanarkshire. His plans for social reformation had engaged the attention of the leading men in the county, and for a time he was a frequent guest at their tables. In those days, under the guise of hospitality, the carousals of Osbaldistone Hall, as described in Roh Hoy, were re-acted in many a Scottish mansion. Robert Dale Owen relates the experi- ence of his father when dining at the country seat of a gentleman who had shown sympathy towards his views. After the ladies left the dining-room, he says, the host ordered the butler to clear the table and set out two dozen bottles of port, sherry, and claret. When this was done he locked the door of the room, and, putting the key in his pocket, said to his guests : ' Gentlemen, no shirking to-night ; not a man of 124 NEW LANARK you goes out by that door till these bottles are empty.' The wine circulated round the table, as it did at Osbaldistone Hall, and after partaking of three glasses— Owen's utmost limit — he passed the bottle at the fourth round without filling his glass ; but the host remonstrated at this show of weakness and insisted on him taking his share. Thereafter, Owen seized the earliest opportunity of making his escape by a window to the lawn, followed by three or four of the other guests. It is not said, how- ever, that he met an old gardener of the Andrew Fairservice type to give the family history of his host.^ In common with other places, there was at that time much distress in the county of Lanark, and, as already referred to, the mills at New Lanark were daily besieged by needy applicants for work. The question of remedying the serious state of matters had thus come forcibly under the notice of the county authorities. Owen, on the strength of his friendship, and at the request of some of the commissioners of supply for the county, attended one of their meetings held at Lanark on the 1st day of May 1820, and, with much confidence, commimicated to the meeting his plan for ameliorating the condition of the working-classes of society. He read a memorial, drawn up by himself, pointing out the best practical means of employing the working-classes in order ' Threading My Way, p. 69. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM that the prevaihng distress might be essentially relieved. He concluded by recommending the heritors and farmers to give such employment as they could, in the meantime, by the spade or otherwise, to the peaceable and industrious labourers. After hearing Owen, the meeting remitted the matter to the following committee : Sir James Stewart Denham of Coltness, Bart., Sir Henry Steuart of Allanton, Bart., Sir William Honyman of Armadale, Bart., Colonel Gordon of Harperfield, Hugh Mosman of Auchtyfardle, Robert Hamilton, Sheriff-Depute of Lanarkshire, Norman Lockhart of Granaton. The matter again came up for consideration at a general meeting of the noblemen, freeholders, justices of the peace, and commissioners of supply, held at Hamilton on 16th November, when the Duke of Hamilton, Lord Lieutenant of the county, presided. Sir James Stewart Denham laid before the meeting the subjoined report of the committee relative to Mr. Owen's plan for ameliorating the condition of the working-classes : ' In obedience to the remit from the county of Lanark at their meeting on the 1st day of May last, your committee embraced an early opportunity of hearing Mr. Owen at great length upon the nature and details of the plan recommended by him for the relief of the distresses of the country. ' Your committee feel relieved from the necessity of reporting their opinion on the principles which 126 NEW LANARK are at the foundation of Mr. Owen's system ; as that individual has, with the same Hberahty which has uniformly marked his conduct, agreed, on the suggestion of your committee, to print for the information of the gentlemen of the county the detailed statements which have been laid in manuscript before your committee ; and indeed, without an opportunity of individually and deliber- ately considering those statements, your com- mittee would not feel warranted in recommending for adoption a system which, in many of its pro- minent features, is acknowledged by Mr. Owen himself to be at variance with those principles which are sanctioned by the approbation of some of the most enlightened political economists of the age ; and your committee are of the opinion that, by being submitted to the ordeal of public discussion, this system will undergo that full and candid scrutiny which is indispensable either to its ultimate adoption or rejection. ' Your committee more particularly allude to the extension of spade husbandry, the beneficial results of which are so clearly elucidated by Mr. Owen, and proved by the documents to be submitted in an appendix to his detailed state- ments ; and on this point your committee are of opinion that a few comparative experiments, on however small a scale, attentively conducted, and reported by practical agriculturists in different parts of the county, would go far to ascertain the value of a mode of agriculture which your com- 127 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM mittee cannot help conceiving is fraught with important advantages to the agricultural and manufacturing population. ' Your committee cannot conclude this brief report without expressing the extreme satisfaction which they have experienced on visiting the highly interesting establishment under the more immediate direction of Mr. Owen. There the benevolence of that individual and his partners is portrayed in the most pleasing features ; and an inspection of the splendid manufactory at New Lanark must convince the most sceptical to how great an extent the amelioration of the manu- factiuing population may be carried when the views of the managers are governed by that spirit of philanthropy which actuates the partners of New Lanark, whose means of control over their population are only exceeded by their desire to direct them to the most valuable purpose — that of promoting the comfort and independence of the parents, and of training up the children from their earliest infancy by such a gentle, but at the same time systematic, course of education, as, in the opinion of your committee, cannot fail to render them very valuable members of society. Your committee should, perhaps, apologise for this seeming digression, and which the personal obser- vation of most of the individuals for whose inspec- tion this report is intended may have rendered unnecessary ; but they could not help seizing the favourable opportimity of bearing the most un- 128 NEW LANARK qualified testimony to the internal regulations which have been so zealously and benevolently instituted at the New Lanark cotton mills for the comfort of the present and the amelioration of the rising generation ; and which they humbly conceive might, in various degrees, be advantage- ously adopted in most large manufactories, and which would go far to mitigate many of the evils which have been found to result from the exten- sion of manufacturing establishments, and the consequent concentration of so large a proportion of the population of the united empire. Your committee are at the same time credibly informed that these arrangements, instead of involving any pecuniary sacrifice, are found to operate beneficially in a commercial point of view.' (Signed) Norman Lockhabt, Convener. James Stewart Denham. T, Gordon. Hugh Mosman. William Honyman. Henry Steuart. ' (The Sheriff of the county was unavoidably absent in England during the sittings of the committee.) ' There was next laid before the meeting the following proposal by a gentleman of the county for granting a lease of ground sufficient for the purpose of making a practical trial of the plan: 'With a view to facilitate the formation of an I 129 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM establishment on Mr. Owen's plan, which would supersede the necessity of erecting a Bridewell for the county,^ Mr. A. J. Hamilton, Yr. of Dalzell, submits to the meeting a proposal to let from five hundred to seven hundred acres of land, proper for this purpose, at Motherwell, on the following condi- tions : '(1) That the land shall be let on a long lease at a grain rent to be fixed by any competent person or persons to be named by the county. ' (2) That the county shall advance a sum not exceeding £40,000 to be expended in forming the establishment. ' (3) That after the first year interest shall be paid for the said sum at the rate at which the same may be borrowed by the county. ' (4) That the proprietor of the land shall be bound to repay this capital at the end of twenty years ; but that he shall be permitted to refund it at any intermediate period, ' (5) That for the benefit of the county, such aelinquents as would otherwise be sent to Bride- well shall be received into the establishment, under regulations to be afterwards agreed upon. ' Mr. Hamilton is willing, being assisted by the author of the plan, to superintend the whole, without charge to the county.' ^ A plan of the ground in question was shown to ' There was a proposal at that time to erect a prison at Hamilton. ^ Extracted from the Minute Books of the County of Lanark, for which I am indebted to the County Clerk, Thomas Munro, Esq. 130 NEW LANARK the meeting, and Owen was requested to have the plan, along with Mr. Hamilton's proposal, printed in the appendix. It was also agreed that, after the report was circulated among the members, it should be taken into consideration at a meeting specially called for the purpose. Owen evidently did not appreciate Hamilton's intrusion into the project. Not that he was a selfish man and jealous of honours, but he reason- ably took exception to any outside interference with the manner of carrying out his cherished plans. He had so far fought the battle alone, and wished to stand or fall by the impending result. In consequence, it could not be expected that Owen would readily give his approval to the new ideas Hamilton proposed to introduce into the scheme. When the report, therefore, came to be published, the following note was appended to Hamilton's proposal : ' With respect to Mr. Hamilton's proposal, Mr. Owen begs leave to observe that an establish- ment formed on the principles he recommends, if appUed to supersede the necessity of a Bridewell, would reqmre pectdiar modifications, and ought to be confined exclusively to the reception of delinquents. It is better, perhaps, that the first community should be formed for the relief of the industrious among the working-classes, who are now in want of advantageous employment.' 131 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XV The Report to the County of Lanark, extending to sixty pages, forms an interesting document, as it marks the beginning of modern Socialism. Therein, Owen, for the first time, set forth his views on the economic aspect of the proposed establishments, or what he described as ' the first time that the outlines of a science of society were given to the world.' ^ Previously he had approached the sub- ject from the ethical standpoint; but in the Report his arguments were based to a considerable extent on the principles of political economy. He was impressed with the fact that the evil, for which he was required to find a remedy, lay at the very foundation of society, and he had been led to this conclusion by the following considerations : — That manual labour when properly directed was the sourceljf-^rwealth, and that a man's labour when properly directed was of far more value to the community than the expense necessary to maintain him in comfort. That manual labour, properly directed, might be made to continue of this value in all parts of the world, under any reasonable increase of the population, for many ' Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 238. 132 NEW LANARK centuries to come. It must be admitted, he remarked, that every addition to mechanical or chemical power increased wealth, and that the natural effect of this increase should tend to pro- mote the general wealth and happiness of society. But society had neglected to make proper arrangements to meet this rapid increase of the new productive power. As a result, the masters were accumulating enormous wealth, while the workers were unable to procure the reasonable comforts of life. This economic effect did not emanate from lack of wealth, but rather from the imperfect manner in which the new wealth was distributed throughout society. In order to remedy this unsocial state of matters, the Report set forth several proposals. The first and most important of these proposals was to change the standard of value. When Owen wrote his Report the currency question had been engaging the attention of Parliament. An Act had been passed in 1797 by which cash pay- ments by the Bank of England were suspended and paper notes substituted — a convincing proof that society may make any artificial substance a standard of value. This Act was only to continue until the war had ended ; but, although the war was brought to a close in 1815 at Waterloo, yet cash payments had not been resumed. The adop- tion of the new artificial standard of paper, however, was discovered to be attended with much danger ; because it placed the community at the mercy of a ^33 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM trading company — ^the bank. In consequence, the Government resolved to abandon this monopoly of the standard of value, and the only expedient they could suggest was a return to the former artificial standard of gold. A committee, under the presidency of Robert Peel, had been appointed in 1819 to consider the question, and recommended a return to cash pay- ments in four stages. If these measures were put into effect, observed Owen, the country would be plunged into poverty and discontent, and the distress amongst the working-classes would be aggravated. He was fully convinced in his own mind that the real cause of the distress lay in the artificial standard of value, and he set himself the problem of finding a new standard to take the place of gold. He pointed out that after thirty years' experi- ence, and a close study of the subject, he had arrived at the conclusion ' that the natural stan- dard of value was, in principle, human labour, or the combined manual and mental powers of men called into action.' As the world had outgrown cash payments, he suggested that a labour-unit should be adopted as the standard of value, and estimated in the same manner as a ' foot-pound ' or ' horse-power ' in mechanics. Thereby, the price of every article of produce would be fixed in terms of the units of labour required for its production. By this apparently simple device Owen con- 134 NEW LANARK sidered that human labour would acquire its natural or intrinsic value, and no longer be subject to the fitful rise and fall of markets. Nor would the working-classes any longer be bondsmen to an artificial system of wages, more cruel in its effect than slavery. All trade restrictions would be removed, the markets of the world thrown open, and the wants of all supplied. It would render unnecessary the demoralising system of bargaining between individuals, a process which all honest men despised as tending to deteriorate and degrade the human character. The change would also remove pauperism from society. Then, every man able and willing to work would have a command of wealth, even if his purse were empty of silver and gold. He held out the promise that the measure would for ever banish poverty, and prosperity, like sun- shine, would spread over the country. Before this ideal state of society could be realised many obstacles must be removed, for which pm-- pose legislative measures would be necessary. Owen, therefore, recommended the county of Lanark to petition the Government ' to take into their most serious consideration some effective means to remove the existing obstruction that stood in the way of the general prosperity of the country.' Further, he knew from experience that the deep-rooted aversion of the public to any innovation would require to be overcome. The situation to an ordinary man might well have been disheartening, but Owen faced the 135 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM circumstances undismayed. He was resolved, at all hazards, to press forward to the fulfilment of his plans. The next change suggested in the Report had reference to the methods of agricultural operations. Public attention at that time was being directed to a series of experiments conducted by Mr. Falla, a nursery gardener of Gateside, Newcastle-upon- Tyne, in the cultivation of land by the spade in- stead of the plough. On several occasions Mr. Falla had experienced difficulty in obtaining a sufficient number of spade hands, and being forced to sub- stitute the plough was struck by the inferior results on land thus prepared. In consequence, he resolved to make practical experiments with wheat crops. The experiments were continued for four years on half an acre of land, each year on new plots. At Owen's request, Falla embodied the result of his experiments in a communication which was added to the appendix of the Report presented to the county of Lanark. In this note, he detailed the comparative produce from his own land and that obtained from an adjoining field in the year 1819. The neighbouring land, worked by the plough in the usual manner and the seed sown broadcast, produced thirty-eight bushels per acre ; while his own land, of slightly inferior quality and not more highly manured, prepared by the spade and the seed sown in drills, gave an average crop of sixty-eight and a half bushels per acre. In com- paring the expense of the two methods, Falla 136 NEW LANARK pointed out that one spade digging, owing to its extra depth, is equal to three ploughings and harrowings, and asserted that comparatively the cultivation of wheat by the spade would only cost five shillings more per acre than by the plough, resulting in an increased profit of about fifty per cent. The result of the experiment could not be ac- cepted as satisfactory or conclusive, since the land with which the comparison was made did not belong to Falla, and, therefore, he was not in a position to know exactly the amount of manure used. Besides, there were many other elements that required to be taken into account, such as the quality of the soil, the drainage of the same, and the comparative exhaustion of the land by the two methods. Yet, on the result of this crude and imperfect experiment, Owen proposed to base a new theory of agricultiire. He imbued himself with the con- viction that the salvation of the labouring classes lay in spade husbandry. He accordingly proceeded, in the Report, to recommend the cultivation of the land by spade labour as profitable for the individual, and a source of permanent occupation for the labouring classes ; although, to use his own words, ' closet theorists and inexperienced persons sup- posed that to change the plough for the spade would be a superior for an inferior implement of cultivation.' ^ At all events, something required to ' Report to the County of Lanark, p. 14. ^37 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM be done for the suffering population, and he was per- suaded that in this lay the most effective remedy to counteract the evils which the steam engine and spinning-machine had inflicted on society. He then proceeded to propound the details of his plan to give relief to the working-classes. The proposals were somewhat on the lines already set forth in the report to the archbishop's com- mittee, and as explained in chapter xii., but modified considerably in the essential details. The comnumities were to be a,gricultural^llages for Jh-G- new .-systena"j6£ -spade industry, instead of villages of unity and mutual co-operation ; although he still adhered to his favourite parallelogram for the disposition of the buildings. Each village was to have a population of from eight hundred to twelve hundred persons, and be capable of com- bining within itself all the advantages of the city and country, unattended by the many hindrances and evils attached to such modes of society. Sufficient land of a superior quality would be allocated to each village in order to enable the cultivators to raise an abundant supply of food and the other necessaries and comforts of life. In cases where circumstances were favourable the manufacture of goods would be added to agri- culture, and the surplus products sold to the upper classes, who neither toil nor spin. The quantity of land necessary for each village Owen put at from half an acre to an acre for each person according to the nature of the major product, NEW LANARK whether agriculture or manufacture. Therefore, under the proposed system, the land would be divided into farms of from four hundred to twelve hundred acres. In detailing the proposals for the housing of the population and the education of the children, Owen went on to say : ' It being always most convenient for the workmen to reside near to their employment, the site for the dwellings of the cultivators will be chosen as near to the centre of the land as water, proper levels, dry situation, etc., may admit ; and as courts, alleys, lanes, and streets, create many lumecessary inconveniences, are injurious to health, and destructive of almost all the natural comforts of human life, they will be excluded, and a disposition of the buildings free from these objections, and greatly more economical, will be adopted. . . . 'A large square, or rather parallelogram, will be found to combine the greatest advantages, in its form, for the domestic arrangements of the association. This form, indeed, affords so many advantages for the comfort of hixman life, that if ignorance respecting the means necessary to secure good conduct and happiness among the working- classes had not prevailed in all ranks, it must long ago have become universal. It admits of a most simple, easy, convenient, and economical arrange- ment for all the purposes required.' ^ In these quadrangular villages the old system ' Report to the County of Lanark, pp. 27, 28. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM of individualism and competition would be dis- carded as being at variance with the public good. The principle of the new system would be that of united labour and expenditure, besides community of property, with equal opportunities and privileges. The domestic arrangements of the villages were next described. It was shown that the food would be prepared at a cooking centre, and the inhabitants dine together as one family. By that arrangement the food could be supplied at a cheaper rate, and with less labour and more comfort. The meals would be served in ' spacious, well-lighted, and pleasantly ventilated apartments, and in the society of well-dressed, well-trained, well-educated, and well-informed associates, possessing the most benevolent disposition ; and, if desirable habits can give zest and proper enjoyment to meals, then will the inhabitants of the proposed village experience all this in an eminent degree,' ^ The inhabitants were to be clothed in a distinctive dress. On this question, Owen expressed his pre- ference for the national dress of the Romans and the Highlanders of Scotland, because he considered these to be the only two nations who had adopted a national dress that was at the same time be- coming and of practical utility. He, therefore, pro- posed that the boys in the villages should be clad in the Roman or Highland garb, so that their limbs might be free and the air have room to circulate round the body. The females were also to have a ' Report to the County of Lanark, p. 35. 140 NEW LANARK well-chosen and becoming dress, in order to seciu-e similar advantages ; but there was to be no change of fashions — perhaps a difficult rule to enforce among the female section of a community. The garments were to be made in the village, as Owen considered this arrangement would allow the inhabitants to be better dressed at less than one- hundredth part of the labour and expense required to clothe the same number of persons under the old system. The next question dealt with had reference to education ; and on this point Owen recommended the system then in operation at New Lanark, and more fully set forth in his Essays on the Formation of Character. Here is Owen's picture of the evolution of the child under the changed conditions : ' Each child mil receive a general education early in life that will fit him for the proper purposes of society, make him the most useful to it, and the most capable of enjoying it. Before he is twelve years old he may with ease be trained to acquire a correct view of the outline of all the knowledge which men have yet attained. By this means he will early learn what he is in relation to past ages ; to the period in which he lives, to the circumstances in which he is placed, to the individuals around him, and to future events. He will only then have pretentions to the name of a rational being. His physical powers may be equally enlarged in a manner as beneficent to himself as those around 141 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM him. As his strength increases he will be initiated in the practice of all the leading operations of the community, by which his services, at all times and under all circumstances, wiU afford a great gain to society beyond the expense of his sub- sistence ; while at the same time he will be in the continual possession of more substantial comforts and real enjoyments than have ever yet apper- tained to any class in society. The new wealth which one individual, by comparatively light and always healthy employment, may create under the arrangement now proposed, is indeed incal- culable. They would give him giant powers compared with those which the working-class, or any other, now possesses. There would at once be an end of all mere animal machines who could only follow the plough, or turn a sod, or make some insignificant part of some insignificant manu- facture or frivolous article which society could far better spare than possess. Instead of the unhealthy pointer of a pin, header of a nail, piecer of a thread, or clodhopper senselessly gazing at the soil or around him, without understanding or rational reflection, there would spring up a working- class full of activity and useful knowledge, with habits, information, manners and dispositions that would place the lowest in the scale many degrees above the best of any class which has yet been found by the circumstances of past or present society. Such are a few of the advantages which a rational mode of training and education, com- 142 NEW LANARK bined with the other parts of this system, would give to all the individuals within the action of its influence.' ^ He then proceeded to consider the formation and administration of the proposed establishments, and suggested several methods for raising the necessary capital and putting the villages into operation. For instance, by county authorities and parishes, in order to relieve themselves of pauperism and poor rates ; by associations of the middle and working-classes of farmers and trades- men, in order to get free from the degrading influence of the old system ; or by landed proprietors and wealthy capitahsts who, moved by generous impulses, might desire to help in the social reforma- tion. Strange to say, the only practical social experi- ment attempted on Owen's principle in Scotland emanated from this unexpected quarter; for the Orbiston community was founded by a landed proprietor and a capitalist. ' Report to the County of Lanark, pp. 45, 46. 143 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XVI In the setting up of the first estabhshment Owen directed that the utmost care should be exercised in every direction, as the future of the scheme depended on its success or failure. In the first instance he recommended that the inhabitants should be selected from those who, besides having a practical knowledge of gardening, agriculture, or manufactures, would appreciate the principles on which the associations were formed, and feel an interest and a pleasure in putting them into practice. With such individuals, he considered that all formidable obstacles would soon disappear. Regarding the mode of governing the estabhsh- ments, he observed that there would be entire freedom, restricted only by the manner in which they were respectively formed. Those founded by private individuals would be subject to the rules and regulations laid down by the founders; while those formed by the middle and working- classes could govern themselves upon principles that would prevent divisions, opposition of interests, jealousies, or any of the common and vulgar passions which a contention for power always creates among men. The affairs would be con- 144 NEW LANARK ducted by a committee composed of members of the commiunity between forty and fifty years of age, who would retire on reaching the age hmit. Through course of time, the inhabitants would be composed entirely of those who had been edu- cated and trained without distinction in the establishment, and imbued only with one aim and one motive in life. They would thus become happy associates, knowing each other's inmost thoughts, with ideals and aspirations in common. As a consequence, in Owen's happy villages there would be no striving after the empty honours and privileges of to-day, so dear to men of small minds. Nor would selfishness, deceit, or fraud of any kind exist in their midst for want of an adequate motive ; and, in addition, the corruption and jobbery practised in the old system would pass away for ever. Society would thus be purified of many contaminating influences ; the principles of equity, justice, open-dealing, and fairness would in due course influence the whole proceedings, and, as a result, no difficulty would arise in the exchange of the products of labour, mental or manual, among themselves. In all cases labour was to be the standard of value, and as the population increased, the wealth of the community would thus advance in the same ratio. There would also be a perpetually extending market or demand for all the industry of the village, while large warehouses and granaries would be attached to each establishment, the granaries K 145 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM containing a sufficient supply of food stuffs to meet deficiencies caused by unfavourable seasons. From the warehouses, the wealth would be distri- buted among the members who created it, and any surplus exchanged for the surplus products of .some other community. The connection of the new establishment with the government of the country was to remain as formerly. The land, capital, and labour would be taxed in the same proportion as under the old arrangements of society. As the revenue would be exacted in the legal circulating medium, Owen's proposal was to sell to the members of the old society, for the current coin of the realm, enough of the surplus products of the community to meet the demands of the tax-gatherer. He then proceeded to set forth in the Report his views regarding the relationship that woiild exist between the communities and the government, on questions of public and imperial interests. In time of peace, these associations would give no trouble to the government. Their internal regulations being founded on principles of preven- tion, not only with reference to public crimes, but the private evils and errors which so fatally abound in common society, courts of law, prisons, and pxmishments would not be required. These were requisite only where human nature was greatly misunderstood; where society rested on the demorahsing system of individual rewards and punishments, and in a stage of existence when 146 NEW LANARK the overwhelming influence of circumstances over the whole character and conduct of mankind was yet unknown. Whatever courts of law, prisons, and punishments had yet effected for society, the conditions proposed to be intro- duced would accomplish infinitely more ; for they would effectually prevent the growth of those evils of which existing institutions did not take cognisance. In time of peace these associations would thus save much charge and trouble to the government. In reference to war also they would be equally beneficial. Bodily exercises, adapted to improve the disposition and increase the health and strength of the individual, would form part of the training and education of the children. In these exercises they would be in- structed to acquire facility in the execution of combined movements : a habit calculated to pro- duce regularity and order in time of peace, and to aid defensive and offensive operations in war. The children, therefore, at an early age, would acquire through their amusements those habits which would render them capable of becoming, in a short time, at any future period of life, the best defenders of their country — if necessity should again arise to defend it — since they would in all probability be physically, mentally, and morally stronger. In furnishing their quotas for the militia or common army they would probably adopt the means by which they would form a reserve that, 147 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM in proportion to their numbers, would be a great security for the nation's safety. They would choose that alternative to avoid the demoralising effects of recruiting. So that, in fact, Robert Owen fore- stalled Mr. Haldane in a scheme for a territorial army. These associations would not subject the govern- ment to the same proportion of trouble and expense that an equal population would do in the old society. On the contrary, they would relieve the government of the whole burden ; and by the certain and decisive influence of these arrangements upon the character and conduct of the parties, would materially add to the political strength, power, and resources of the country into which they were introduced. Such was the scheme to give permanent employ- ment to the labouring classes, and generally to ameliorate the condition of human life, which Robert Owen presented to the county of Lanark. He was not sanguine that it would be accepted without criticism, if not opposition; and accord- ingly prepared himself with a range of argu- ments to meet any objections likely to be put forth. The subject, he remarked, was new both to theorists and practical men, who, from errors in education and training, would be unable to com- prehend the principles developed in the Report. As a consequence, the measures being at vari- ance with the preconceived ideas of the theorist, he would without sufficient consideration pro- 148 NEW LANARK nounce the scheme as impracticable and unworthy of serious notice. The practical man, on the other hand, being incapable of grasping the essential features embodied in the proposals, would fix his attention on small matters of detail and condemn the plan as a whole, Owen, however, maintained that society could not much longer exist under the old conditions, and that the measures proposed in the Report were the only possible means of averting the threatened national calamity. Hence something must be done, and done quickly, and almost in despair he put the question — ' But who is to do this something ? ' He did not expect it from the agriculturist, or the tradesman, or the rich manu- facturer, or lawyer, or priest, or from radicals, whigs, or tories ; because it would be just as reason- able to expect grapes to grow on thorns as to expect a rational ' something ' to emanate from any of these classes. As a reason for this want of faith in the old state of society, he reiterated, as he was never tired of doing, the doctrine on which his new moral world was based, ' that character is formed for and not by the individual.' Hitherto mankind had acted as if the reverse were true ; and, in consequence of this erroneous principle, there followed all the attendant evils of hatred, revenge, uncharitableness, crimes, and miseries which have for ages perverted the human mind. But a sound knowledge of his doctrine within the agricultural villages would lead to a 149 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM gradual and peaceful introduction of other institu- tions and improved arrangements which would preclude the old evils, and permanently secure the well-being and happiness of mankind. As this ideal state of universal happiness did not exist in the old society, the villages, at the outset, would require to be peopled by the ordinary types of mankind, with all their failings and imperfections. The Report concluded with a general review of the proposals, in which Owen delivered his soul : — ' What, then, to sum up the whole in a few words, does your reporter now propose to his fellow- creatures ? After a life spent in the investigation of the causes of the evils with which society is afflicted, and of the means of removing them, and being now in possession of facts demonstrating the practicability and the efficacy of the arrange- ments now exhibited — which has been the fruit of that investigation, aided by a long course of actual experiments — he offers to exchange their poverty for wealth, their ignorance for knowledge, their anger for kindness, their divisions for union. He offers to effect this change without subjecting a single individual even to temporary inconvenience. No one shall suffer by it for an hom- ; all shall be essentially benefited within a short period from its introduction ; and yet not any part of the existing system shall be prematurely disturbed. ' His practical operations will commence with 150 NEW LANARK those who are now a burthen to the country for want of employment. He will enable these persons to support themselves and their families, and pay the interest of the capital requisite to put their labour in activity. From the effects which will be thus produced on the character and circum- stances of this oppressed class the public will soon see and acknowledge that he has promised far less than will be realised ; and when, by these arrange- ments, the vicious, the idle, and the pauper, shall be made virtuous, industrious and independent, those who shall be still the lowest in the scale in the old society may place themselves under the new arrangements, when they have evidence before them that these offer greater advantages than the old. ' Upon this principle, the change from the old system to the new will be checked in its progress whenever the latter ceases to afford decided inducements to embrace it ; for long established habits and prejudices will continue to have a powerful influence over those who have been trained in them. The change then, beyond the beneficial employment of those who now cannot obtain work, will proceed solely from proof, in practice, of the very great superiority of the new arrangements over the old. ' Unlike, therefore, all former great changes, this may be effected without a single evil or incon- venience. It calls for no sacrifice of principle or property from any individual, in any rank or 151 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM condition ; through every step of its progress it effects unmixed good only. . . . ' Seeing, therefore, on the one hand, the sufferings which are now experienced, and the increasing discontent which prevails, especially among the most numerous and the most useful class of our population ; and, on the other, the relief and the extensive benefits which are offered to society on the authority of facts open to inspection, can the public any longer with decency decline investiga- tion ? Can those who profess a sincere desire to improve the condition of the poor and working- classes longer refuse to examine a proposal which, on the most rational grounds, promises them ample relief, accompanied with unmixed good to every part of society ? ' Your reporter solicits no favour from any party ; he belongs to none. He merely calls upon those who are the most competent to the task, honestly, as men valuing their own interests and the interests of society, to investigate, without favour, a plan (derived from thirty years' study and practical experience) for relieving public distress and remov- ing discontent, by giving permanent productive employment to the poor and working-classes, under arrangements which will essentially improve their character and ameliorate their condition, diminish the expense of production and consumption, and create markets co-extensive with production.' The Report was extensively circulated to noble- men, justices of the peace, commissioners of supply, 152 NEW LANARK and the clergy throughout the country. At that time the novelty of the proposals attracted atten- tion, not only in this country but abroad ; and the French Academy complimented the author on the work. 153 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XVII The next we hear of the project is from a meeting held at Hamilton on the 19th April 1821. This meeting, which was called by fifty-three of the county gentlemen with the object of further con- sidering Owen's Report, was numerously attended by all sorts and conditions of men. Sir James Stewart Denham, Bart., of Coltness, was elected chairman ; while the clerk of the county, Mr. Lamb, read letters from Sir Charles Macdonald Lockhart, Bart., Hugh Mosman, Esq., of Auchty- fardle, and Norman Lockhart, Esq., of Granaton, apologising for their absence on account of severe indisposition, but stating their concurrence in the objects of the meeting. The chairman then intimated that since the Report was issued he was informed that Mr. Owen had prepared additional information with calcula- tions and drawings relative to his plan, and was waiting to explain them to the meeting. Several of the gentlemen then examined the designs ; and seemed much gratified with the simphcity of a system of social economy, having for its object the improvement of the labouring classes. Owen afterwards occupied fully an hour of the meet- 154 NEW LANARK ing by explaining the further development of his plan. After hearing Owen's long oration, Sir Henry Steuart, Bart., of AUanton, moved the following resolutions, no doubt dictated by Owen : ' (1) That the agricultural, commercial, manu- facturing, and trading interests, have experienced a great depression since the termination of the war. ' (2) That this depression has produced among the middling and working-classes great distress. ' (3) That the greatest diversity of opinion exists among the highest authorities respecting the causes which have created this long continued stagnation during peace in every branch of the national industry. ' (4) That various measures have been suggested to remedy the evil, but none of them have appeared to the public at all adequate to the object. ' (5) That in consequence of the very severe distress experienced some time ago in this country in particular, Mr. Owen was requested by a com- mittee appointed by the county to make a report on the best means of providing permanent produc- tive employment for the poor and working-classes. ' (6) That this report, with the report of the committee thereon, was submitted to a county meeting held at Hamilton on the 16th November last, when Mr. Owen was authorised to print and circulate the same, that the subject might be more deliberately considered by the gentlemen of the county ; which has been done accordingly. 155 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM ' (7) That the report appears to be drawn up with much care, and the statements and reasonings which it contains to have been derived from much study and long experience. ' (8) That in the opinion of this meeting it develops a comprehensive view of the subject, and which, if true, is applicable to the empire at large as well as to this county.' All of which were unanimously agreed to. But an animated discussion ensued over the ninth resolution, which was in the following words : ' That, in consequence, this meeting deems it a fit subject for the attention of the government and legislature, and resolve to petition both Houses of Parliament to take the same into consideration. John Maxwell, Esq., M.P. for Renfrewshire, at considerable length, spoke in support of the resolu- tions. Lord Belhaven, who followed, said that he was extremely sorry to disturb the harmony of the meeting. He should be the last person to stand in the way of any measures tending to pro- mote the interests of the working-classes, but he could not assent to all the resolutions which had just been read. The Report, he beheved had only been pubKshed about four or five weeks, and, for his own part, he had not an opportunity of seeing it till that morning. He would not have them petition Parhament without due deliberation. The question before them was obviously one of great importance and difficulty ; and before they went to the legislature, with a prayer that it 156 NEW LANARK might become the subject of parUamentary investi- gation, he conceived it was incumbent on every gentleman to make himself thoroughly acquainted with all the propositions which the Report of Mr. Owen embraced. He for one could not say that he yet understood them. He was certainly a friend to reform, and should be happy to co-operate with the gentlemen present in measures to obtain it. The subject of their present deliberations was indeed one of reform— it was reform with a ven- geance — ^it went to effect a change in the whole system of society ; but he was not at that moment prepared to go quite so far. He urged the pro- priety of allowing more time for consideration. W. F. Campbell, Esq., of Shawfield, saw no reason for any further delay, and had great pleasure in supporting the resolutions. A. J. Hamilton, Esq., Yr. of Dalzell, said the resolutions did not pledge the meeting to any opinion as to the truth or fallacy of the views developed in Mr. Owen's Report; they merely expressed that the subject was one deserving the attention of the legislature. Lord Belhaven begged to be understood that he was far from intending to express any disapprobation of the plan. With respect to the seventh resolu- tion, it appeared to ground the recommendation of the plan on their own experience. But Owen explained that the expression only applied to the individual whose Report was the subject of the resolutions. After which explanation. Lord Bel- haven said he had no objection to accede to all the 157 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM resolutions named except the ninth, as it pledged the meeting to petition Parliament immediately ; to that he must still withhold his assent. He only desired that a little more time might be allowed ; and felt it his duty to move that the meeting should adjourn to that day month. Robert Brown, Esq., agreed with the noble lord in recommending the county not to bring this question before Parliament in a precipitate manner. It involved considerations of the highest importance, and demanded much deliberation. Among other alterations of the existing system which the Report suggested, he might mention that regarding the currency. Labour was proposed as the new standard of value ; in short it went to establish quite a new order of things. This Report must necessarily form an integral part of the petition. Now, he conceived, that before sub- mitting it to Parliament it would be expedient to reconsider the matter of the text, which he was of opinion might be much condensed and amended ; and he thought the gentlemen would more effectu- ally obtain their object by consenting to a little delay. There were many parts of the plan of which he did not hesitate to state his approbation. He must, however, second the amendment of the noble lord. On being put to the meeting the amend- ment was lost; twenty-three voting to proceed and only seven for delay. A committee was then appointed to prepare petitions to both Houses of Parliament ; and, after 158 NEW LANARK some delay, the following petition was read to the meeting and adopted : ' Unto the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled. ' The humble Petition of the Noblemen, Free- holders, Justices of the Peace, Commissioners of Supply, and Clergy of the County of Lanark, subscribers hereto. ' Sheweth, and humbly sheweth, — ' That, from a Report which Mr. Owen, at the request of your petitioners, has prepared for the consideration of this county, it appears that he has devoted much time and application to discover the causes of the distress which has so long pre- vailed in all the great branches of the national industry. ' That, from the state of his establishment under his management at New Lanark, concerning which a committee appointed by the county have recently made a Report, your petitioners are of opinion that this individual is well acquainted with the habits of the working-classes, and with means of regulating their proceeding advantageously for themselves and for the public ; that for these reasons, and conceiving it is from Parliament alone that the country can expect an adequate and satisfactory investigation of the causes of the general distress, and of the means of its removal or mitigation, 159 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM your petitioners pray that your Honourable House will take into your consideration the measures suggested in the Report referred to (with such further details as Mr. Owen is ready to communi- cate) for giving permanent productive employment to the poor and working-classes. And your Peti- tioners will ever pray, etc' ^ At the close of this prolonged meeting a number of the gentlemen dined together. In the company were two professors of law from Glasgow, with whom Owen had a long and keen dispute over the merits of his system. The professors, it is said, were worsted in the argument, and displayed considerable ill humour during the rest of the evening." 1 The Economist, 26th April 1821. '' Private Jortmal of A. J. Hamilton, p. 148. i6o NEW LANARK CHAPTER XVIII The result of the meeting at Hamilton, together with Owen's sincerity and honest}^ of purpose, went a long way in arousing public attention to the importance of the subject. Hitherto, there had been a considerable amount of neutral opinion on the question ; but since the proposals had received the favour of the influential people in the county the cause had become prominent amongst the masses. When a project of public importance comes to be popular it is astonishing how soon people rush recklessly and without reasoning towards it, like a moth to a flame — often to meet the fate of the moth. Owen's petition to Parliament was signed, as no similar petition had before been signed, by the leading noblemen and gentlemen of both political parties, the univer- sities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, some presbyteries, and most of the clergy. Armed with the petition from the ' most learned, wealthy, and popular county in Scotland,' Owen went to London and again had his scheme brought before the notice of Parliament. The motion to appoint a Commission to inquire into the measures suggested in Owen's Report to the L i6i ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM County of Lanark was moved in the House of Commons by John Maxwell, member for Renfrew- shire. In doing so he said that he spoke on behalf of ' unrepresented labour,' which was reduced to the greatest distress through the late war, the Corn Laws, and the taxation of Mr. Pitt. He concluded by describing the nature of Owen's measures. His speech, however, was extremely feeble, and made no impression on the House. In the debate which followed Maxwell was ably supported by Mr. Dawson, Sir William de Cres- pigny, and William Smith, member for Norwich, the last-named observing that it was the most extraordinary petition ever presented to Parlia- ment, as it was signed by persons of all classes and sects in politics and religion. He was at a loss to know of anything that could induce such in- congruous parties to sign the petition, unless it con- cerned matters of general and urgent importance. Lord Londonderry led the opposition, and based his objections on the mode of government proposed by Owen, which he said might be ' applicable enough to poorhouses, but was by no means agree- able to the feelings of a free nation.' Dr. Lushington could not imagine how distress was to be removed by feeding the people like horses ; he approved of morality, but he could not sanction the abandonment of rehgion. Canning followed with a telling speech. He said that he had formed the highest opinion of the zeal, talents, and benevolent disposition of Mr. 162 NEW LANARK Owen ; but he felt that he must oppose the motion on the ground of the scheme being inimical to individuality. Though successful on a small scale, it was a most fallacious inference to suppose that it would be so on a large scale. The House should, therefore, pause before it set the example of a community existing in Christendom where there would be no religion. Lord Archibald Hamilton protested against such observations, because Owen's plans, to his mind, included the strictest observance of religious duties. Brougham supported his lordship, and assured the House that, if he had any fault to find with the system which Owen had adopted at New Lanark, it was on the score of too much religion. Other speakers followed who in turn ridiculed the ' quadrangle paradises.' Ultimately the motion was negatived without a division.^ The scheme fared no better in the House of Lords. While Lord Liverpool's administration evidently favoured the measure, still the powerful speech of Lord Lauderdale decided the fate of the petition. Rising from his seat, and glancing at Lord Liverpool he said : ' My Lords, I know Mr. Owen well ; and I can assure your Lordships that if you give any countenance to Mr. Owen and his plans, no government in Europe can stand against them.' " ' Parliamentary Debates, June 26, 1821. ^ Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 2.37. 163 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM The ridicule wiiieli both Houses of Parhament heaped on the measure caused the county of Lanark to abandon the scheme. Owen, on the other hand, met the rebuff with the fortitude of a stoic. From the tone of the debate he was convinced of the futihty of making any further attempt to bring before tlie legislature questions of social reform, since not one of the opposition suggested a counter-scheme for the relief of the distress, except that which time and patience could produce. The British Government evidently be- lieved in the maxim of the ebb and flow of material prosperity — of the seven alternate years of plenty and of famine. But this theory of probabilities did not satisfy Robert Owen. If the government of the country would not countenance the proposals he placed before it, he resolved to find some other means to put his plans into active operation. However, he was prevented from taking immediate action, as the internal affairs of the New Lanark establish- ment required his individual attention. At that critical period, as already mentioned, William Allan, along with other two of the partners, visited New Lanark in order to inquire into the principles on which the establishment was governed. As a result of this inquiry, Allan strongly deprecated all that Owen had been doing in the way of educa- tion and in the religious teaching of the young, which eventually led to the rupture already referred to in chapter x. 164 NEW LANARK After being released from New Lanark Owen immediately set out for Ireland, where he hoped to find a more suitable soil in which to sow his seeds of Socialism. There he spent several months travelling throughout the country, propagating his doctrine among persons of every persuasion in politics and religion. The speeches he delivered were similar in substance to those given in the London Tavern, and the remedies advocated — those embodied in the Report to the County of Lanark. But the public mind of Ireland at that time, as now, was more set on reforms of the existing system than the creation of a new social world. Besides, religious animosities stood in the way, and any enthusiasm which had been evoked was of short duration. So Owen wisely gave up the attempt to convert the Irish people to his principles. ' Ireland was,' he said, ' a real Babel of religious and political confusion ; all parties and interests contending against each other, making the island a pandemonium; while a little truth and common sense would have made it a paradise.' ^ The only practical outcome of Owen's visit to Ireland resulted in the House of Commons appoint- ing a Select Committee, of which Ricardo was a member, to consider the employment of the poor. The Hibernian Philanthropic Society, established under the influence of Owen, petitioned in favour of villages of co-operation ; while Owen himself gave 1 Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 240. 165 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM evidence before the committee on the economical and ethical aspects of his scheme. In the report presented by the committee the whole question was finallj^ disposed of in the following incisive sentence : — ' Certainly your committee feel every disposition highly to estimate the effects of good education and early moral habits ; but to conceive that any arrangement of circumstances can altogether divest a man of his passions and frailties, as they compre- hend principles in themselves undeniable, is a result which can never be anticipated.' In December 1824, he was induced to visit the United States of America by the fame of a colony of German communists at New Harmony in Indiana, founded by a German, named George Rapp. He took his son Wilham with him, leaving Robert to look after the interests of New Lanark. Owen seems to have been much attracted by the situation of the property, for, after making investi- gations into the aims and methods of the Rappite community, he purchased the village of New Har- mony, along with twenty thousand acres of land, at £30,000. Both the place and the circumstances he considered most suitable for a practical experi- ment on his own account, as he had no intention of again appealing to the upper classes, whose aid he had formerly sought in vain. After setting the community in operation, leaving his son William in charge, he returned to New Lanark during August 1825 ; and in December of 1 66 NEW LANARK the same year, accompanied by his son Robert and a few ardent disciples, he went back to the land of promise. For a little while the undertaking seemed to prosper, but very soon serious difficulties pre- sented themselves. It was evident that the society was too large (nine hundred) and of too mixed a character to work smoothly. Ultimately, it had to be divided into separate communities, according to the religious or racial differences of the members. After another visit to his family at New Lanark, Owen returned to America in the autumn of 1827 ; but on reaching New Harmony he was keenly disappointed at the unsatisfactory state of matters, which in every respect pointed to a complete failure. It was evident that a communistic society was not possible under the existing conditions. Owen, therefore, with his mind in tension, and in order to avert entire disaster, summoned a meeting of the inhabitants and delivered to them an address. After recapitulating the history of the under- taking, he proceeded : ' I tried a new course, for which I was induced to hope that fifty years of political liberty had prepared the American popula- tion — that is, to govern themselves advantageously. I supplied land, houses, and the use of much capital ; but experience proved that the attempt was pre- mature to unite a number of strangers not previ- ously educated for the purpose, who should carry on extensive operations for their common interests, and live together as a common family. I after- wards tried, before my last departure hence, 167 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM what could be done by those associated through their own choice and in small numbers : to these I gave leases of large tracts of good land for ten thousand years at a nominal rent, and for moral conditions only. Now upon my return I find that the habits of the individual system were so powerful that these leases have been, with few exceptions, applied for individual purposes and individual gain, and in consequence they must return again into my hands. . . . ' My intention now is to form such arrangements on the estate of Harmony as will enable those who desire to promote the practice of the social system to live in separate families on the individual system, and yet to unite their labour, or to exchange labour for labour on the most beneficial terms for all ; or to do both or neither as their feelings and apparent interest may influence them.' ^ But matters went from bad to worse, until in 1828 the affairs of the community were wound up ; and Owen, a poorer but a wiser man, took farewell of the colony and returned to Scotland. Before long, however, his mind again turned in the direction of America ; on this occasion to Texas, where he proposed to commence a social experi- ment on a colossal scale. But, in consequence of Congress refusing to pass a measure to establish freedom of rehgious belief in the Mexican Republic, nothing came of the project. While Owen was disappointed at the many rebuffs and failures, 1 New Harmony Gazette, Vol. III. i68 NEW LANARK he still hoped that success would eventually reward his efforts, and he continued his attempts at com- munity making and founding co-operative societies, labour exchanges, and kindred institutions. Under his direction as governor, a large establish- ment was set up at Queenwood, East Tytherly, Hampshire, where money was spent lavishly on buildings and roadmaking. For instance, the main building, called ' Harmony Hall,' cost over £15,000 ; and a number of useless farm- steadings were erected on the estate. So confident were Owen and his followers that the establishment would foreshadow the coming of the new moral world, that they caused to be inscribed over the doorway of Harmony Hall the mystic letters ' C. M.', which signified the ' Commencement of the Millennium.' But the enterprise only continued for a few years ; and, like all former attempts, ended in dismal failure. A similar fate befell the labour exchange, where notes for work done were to supersede money. Notwithstanding that all his exertions to found social communities and kindred associations had proved unavailing, Owen did not falter ; but resolved to devote the remainder of his life to the preaching of social salvation to the masses. With this aim in view he travelled through the country lecturing and debating ; preparing the working- classes for the great change he hoped to bring about in society. In later years he became a convert to Spiritualism, 169 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM and through the agency of table-rapping, and similar spurious phenomena, he claimed to have received revelations from the spiritual, or perhaps more truly, the refined material world. These new manifestations, however, were not opposed to his former teachings ; as he was assured by the spirits of Jefferson, Franklin, and the Duke of Kent of the truth of the principles he had so long advocated for the regeneration of mankind. By 1858 the shadows were deepening around him, and he died on the 17th October of that year, at the ripe age of eighty-seven.^ ' And we shall all be equal at the last, Or classed according to life's natural ranks. Fathers, sons, brothers, friends — not rich nor wise. Nor gifted : lay me thus, then say, " He lived Too much advanced before his brother men : They kept him still in front : 'twas for their good, But yet a dangerous station. It were strange That he should tell God he had never ranked With men : so, here at last he is a man." ' '■ For a full account of Owen and his work see Robert Owen, A Biography, by Frank Podmore. 2 vols. London : Hutchinson and Co., 1906. 170 ORBISTON CHAPTER XIX Although the county of Lanark had withdrawn from the project of founding a social community, yet the scheme was not entirely deserted. There were many sincere and good men who were willing to make personal sacrifices for the public welfare. One of the most notable of these was Archibald James Hamilton, Yr. of Dalzell, who, impressed with the success attained at New Lanark, had become a believer in Owen's views, both in principle and in practice. Like Owen, he was eager to try an experiment on the new system ; so they together resolved to begin the first model community on the lands at Motherwell, formerly proposed in the Report to the County of Lanark. As a preliminary step, and in order to test the feeling of the county on the question, Hamilton issued the following prospectus : ' It is now generally admitted that agriculture, trade, commerce, and manufactures have ceased to afford adequate remuneration for the industry, skill, and capital employed in them ; and that, in consequence, the working-classes have long been 171 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM subject to great distress, and their employers to severe losses. ' All parties likewise acknowledge that they are unable to devise the means of removing the evil from any one class, without increasing the distress of the others ; and the British Government has declared — through its Prime Minister, a most experienced statesman — that it knows of no relief that can be afforded either to agriculture or com- merce, except such as time and patience may produce. Yet all the materials requisite for cre- ating prosperity superabound at this moment in a much higher degree than at any former period. ' It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude that the existing arrangements, under which production and consumption are alike unnaturally restrained, do not admit of being made the basis of any per- manent improvement ; and that until some active measures on the part of those who can influence the public mind shall be adopted, to introduce others more applicable to the crisis at which society has now arrived, the general distress and discontent in all countries will continue and increase. Under these circmnstances, an individual who has devoted his life to the investigation of this arduous and important subject proposes the adoption of arrange- ments which, while they will allow free scope to production, will create a demand that shall con- stantly keep pace with it, and secure permanent relief to all classes. Thus may those who no.v possess superfluity of riches be left in the quiet 172 ORBISTON enjoyment of them ; and, instead of expending a proportion of their wealth in support of the poor, without any other return than the mortification of witnessing their degradation and increasing depend- ence and misery, landed proprietors and capitalists may obtain full interest and ample security for all the money they may advance ; and have the additional satisfaction of seeing poverty, ignorance, and vicious habits gradually disappear from their neighbourhood, and the hatred of the poor towards the rich converted into feelings of respect and attachment. ' These arrangements are founded on the most simple laws of nature — on principles, when under- stood, capable of being easily reduced to practice, and certain in all their results. They have been submitted to the deliberate consideration of a committee appointed by the county of Lanark, composed of gentlemen of great experience and respectability, and are now, with the report of that committee, before the public. ' It is the desire of many who wish to see the general distress and discontent removed that these arrangements should have a full and fair trial in the county in which they have originated ; and among others, Mr. Hamilton of Dalzell, who has made a public offer of land in the Middle Ward of Lanarkshire, upon which to try the first experiment, and which is extremely adapted to the purpose.' Then followed the proposals and conditions for the setting up of an establishment on the lines ^1i ■■" ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM recommended by Owen, in which every contin- gency was provided for, unless that of failure. The capital was to consist of two thousand shares of £25 each ; and, as soon as fifteen hundred of the shares were applied for, the necessary measures were to be taken to commence operations under a committee of management. After the interest on the subscribed capital had been paid the remaining profits were to belong to the working members, and to be placed to their cre- dit ; and when the sum so accumulated reached the amount of the original capital the workers were to become the sole proprietors, and have the entire management of the establishment. With the view of gaining the confidence of the public, Hamilton intimated that, under the sanction of the committee of management, he would have Owen's assistance in the formation and superintendence of the institution. The prospectus concluded with the intimation that all communications relative to the proposal were to be made to A. J. Hamilton at Dalzell, or to Robert Owen at Lanark.^ The appeal met with little or no response from the public. One would have expected that at least some of those who so ardently affixed their names to the petition to Parliament would have willingly subscribed. But it is not always those who talk most and loudest on charitable objects whose names are found in the subscription lists. It might have been different had the prospectus ' Appendix, Report to the County of Lanark. 174 ORBISTON been compiled by a crafty company - promoter, instead of a young soldier innocent of the wiles and allurements which attract an ever credulous public. Owing to the failure to raise the necessary funds in the county of Lanark, the scheme, mainly through Owen's exertions, was taken up by the British and Foreign Philanthropic Society. This society, established under distinguished patronage, had for its vice-presidents nearly all the ministers and ambassadors of the principal countries of Europe; besides a long list of noblemen and other distinguished persons. The acting commit- tee consisted of members of Parliament, bankers, clergymen, and philanthropists. The object of the society was nothing less than to carry into effect the measures proposed in the Report to the County of Lanark. A prospectus and conditions of a loan of £100,000 for an establishment on Owen's plan at Mother- well had been issued by the committee. This prospectus was evidently the work of Owen, as it commences with his usual declaration : — ' That the system of the world, founded on the notion that the character of man is formed by him- self, had failed; and in its place it is wished to substitute another system founded on the principle that the character of man is formed for him.' The one system, it was maintained, had endea- voured to accomplish its objects through motives of individual punishment and reward; the other 175 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM professed to attain its end without individual reward or punishment. But in order to effect this great change from the one system to the other gradually, and without violence or injury to the public, or even of private interests, it was resolved to form immediately an establishment or community at Motherwell in the county of Lanark. To carry the plan into execution it was proposed that £100,000 should be raised in sums of £50 and upwards, bearing interest at five per cent. ; the money so raised to be expended solely in forming and conducting such a community. In security for payment of the interest, the deeds relating to the land, which had been prepared in Owen's name, were to be lodged in the Bank of England. As an additional security, a number of gentle- men, whose names appeared in the prospectus, had engaged to advance the sums opposite their names amounting in all to about £50,000, the interest on which would be deferred until the other sub- scribers had been paid. Among the most prominent of those who sub- scribed their names to the loan were Robert Owen, £5000 ; A. J. Hamilton, £5000 ; J. Morrison, £5000 ; Henry Jones, £5000 ; John Smith, £1250 ; General Brown, £1250 ; Captain O'Brien, £300 ; Henry Hase, £250 ; Abram Combe, £250 ; W. de Crespigny, £250 ; John Maxwell, M.P., £100 ; H. Brougham, M.P., £100; W. Falla, £100; Earl Blessington, £100; Viscount Torrington, £100. The establishment was to be formed and con- 176 ORBISTON ducted under the immediate direction of Owen, aided by A. J. Hamilton and a small committee. In fxu-therance of the project, the first meeting of the British and Foreign Philanthropic Society was held in London, on 1st June 1822. The Earl of Blessington read the report of the acting com- mittee, in which the establishing of communities on Owen's plan was recommended. The Motherwell establishment was to be the first of many such communities, and would form a model for the others. It was also the intention to set up at the same place a normal school for the training of teachers in the principles of the new system, who subsequently would go forth to the world, and found similar institutions for the relief of distress and the regeneration of man- kind. But the committee thought fit to take the precaution to point out that, while they frankly acknowledged Owen's plan as a practical method of relief for the poor, they repudiated his metaphysics, which they considered irrelevant to the subject. The meeting, which was very enthusiastic, was addressed by John Maxwell, the Earl of Blessington, and Sir W. de Crespigny, who each bore testimony to the success of the New Lanark establishment, and held out bright prospects for the projected society. Owen, who was present, coidd not let the opportunity pass without alluding to the critics who had attacked his scheme from the economic side ; these he designated, ' the respect- able individuals, now denominated political econo- M 177 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM mists, whose theories and doctrines could only produce misery to the human race.' From the enthusiasm displayed at the meeting, Owen natu- rally assumed that the seed he had so long been sowing was at last to take root, and would soon produce fruit an hundredfold. His hopes, how- ever, were again blighted ; for after that, the first and only meeting, we hear no more of the British and Foreign Philanthropic Society. Although failure after failure seemed to attend Owen's efforts to form communities on the new system, yet he never lost confidence in himself. But, as he saw no immediate prospect of his cherished schemes being realised in this country, he, as already noticed, crossed over to Ireland with the object of there spreading a knowledge of the ' New Views.' While he was absent from New Lanark the breach between himself and the other partners widened to such an extent that he ceased to take any further interest in the establishment. Owen, however, during his twenty-four years of strenuous labours at New Lanark, proved, as did William Morris in later years, that it was possible to conduct trade under humanitarian conditions, and at the same time amass a fortune. Yet, there was a wide difference in the mental calibre of the two men. Morris was highly educated and endowed with a sensitive artistic temperament and a romantic imagination. In practice, a decorative artist and poet ; in all he did, both in decoration and literature, 178 ORBISTON there existed a spirituality of touch all his own. He had a passion to produce beautiful things, and to see men surrounded with beautiful things. Owen, on the other hand, self-taught, with little knowledge of books, was staid and unemotional. In his nature there was an entire absence of feeling, either for art or literature ; and, as a result, his writings were almost unreadable, and his ' quad- rangle paradises ' modelled on the plan of the mills at New Lanark. He gave no thought to the beautiful. His only aim was to have the people comfortably housed, educated, and well fed. Neither did he take an interest in literature ; for, he said, ' the radical errors shared by all men made books comparatively of little value.' Still, Robert Owen and William Morris had many qualities in common. They were both of Welsh extraction ; each of their lives was one long protest against the sordid conditions in which the poor had to labour and to live, and each spent freely of his fortune in the cause of social reformation. Their ideals of Sociahsm were similar. Each aimed at a condition of society in which there would be neither rich nor poor, neither master nor servant, neither idle nor overworked, and in which all men would have equal opportunities. Only, Morris's Socialism was inseparable from Art, and Owen's inseparable from the ' New Views ' ; and they both failed utterly in the practical application of their respective methods of reform. 179 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XX If Robert Owen was not fated to establish a village of co-operation in Lanarkshire, there were two ardent disciples of his system eager to carry on the mission he had so well begun. A. J. Hamilton and Abram Combe, although differing widely in worldly station, met on the same plane in matters of social reform. They had drunk deeply from the fountain of Socialism at New Lanark, and the draught had acted hke a magic potion. It was, therefore, natural that men with similar aims should be attracted to each other ; and when they met, in 1821, they were both ripe and eager to set up an experimental community on Owen's principles. Their first joint effort in this direction was in Edinburgh, where they established a co-operative society on a somewhat wider basis than the store at New Lanark ; and, in order to show the difference, it went under the name of the ' Practical Society.' The members had to pledge themselves to abstain from strong drink, tobacco, and swearing ; and each was furnished with a card, stamped with a seal, bearing the motto of the society — ' By our works we shall be judged.' ^ The society quickly attained 1 A. J. Hamilton's membership card was No. 88. i8o ORBISTON a membership of over five hundred families, and a store was opened for the sale of goods. In addition, a school on the New Lanark principle was commenced for the education of the children ; and in the evening the adults met for instruction and friendly intercourse. At first the society prospered ; but within a year it collapsed owing to the storekeeper, a professedly rehgious man, appropriating the funds to his own use. A. J. Hamilton, in his private journal, gives an amusing account of the affair. ' It is singular,' he says, ' that no attention was paid to phrenology in the selecting of the officials, when the person who made the appointment was brother to the distinguished phrenologist, George Combe. But,' he adds, ' the two brothers ran in opposite extremes ; one thought that circumstances were all in all, the other that organisation was nine-tenths of the whole.' It seems the same mistake had been com- mitted in admitting members, without adequate inqtiiry as to their character : for, according to Hamilton, 'in future, members must be possessed of more than ordinary knowledge,' NotAvithstanding the failure of the ' Practical Society,' Combe was not discouraged, but immedi- ately thereafter formed a community on a small scale in his tan-yard. He intended the workmen to live in common, and, as an inducement, promised to share the profits of the tannery with those who chose to reside in the establishment. Before this project had been long in operation dissensions i8i ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM arose among the inmates, and the community had to be dissolved. The want of success which attended these initial experiments was attributed to local circum- stances, rather than to any error in the system, and the anxiety of the promoters to see the plan put to a fair test under more favourable conditions was in no way diminished. They accordingly resolved to commence an experiment on a modi- fication of Owen's principles. Owen, never doubting the success of the Mother- well scheme, had purchased from General John Hamilton of Dalzell the estate of Motherwell, extending to 660 acres, for about £13,000. This estate, situated in the centre of the Lanarkshire coal fields, was rich in minerals; but Owen, un- aware that the futtue wealth of the country was to be derived from coal instead of cotton, tried to induce Hamilton and Combe to take over the land for their projected estabhshment. The sugges- tion, however, was not entertained, as they wished to begin on a more limited scale. The Motherwell estate remained in Owen's possession for some years. In 1825 he offered it back to General Hamilton at the price originally paid, with five per cent, additional as interest from date of purchase, the total sum being £14,766. But the transaction seems never to have been con- cluded, as presently the lands to the east of the main road form part of the Braidhm'st estate ; while the lands to the west belong to the Duke of Hamilton. 182 ORBISTON About a mile to the west of the Motherwell site was the estate of Orbiston, which had been in possession of the Hamilton family since the fifteenth century. The laird, General John Hamilton of Dalzell, being an old man, left the management of the estates to the care of his son and heir, Archibald James, who, in a glow of socialistic enthusiasm, sold to his associate Abram Combe, as trustee of ' The Orbiston Company,' the south portion of the lands of Orbiston, extending to 291 acres, for the sum of £19,995.' According to the feu-disposition, the lands con- veyed to the Orbiston Company were bounded on the north-east by the road leading from Lanark to Glasgow, by Carluke ; on the north-west by the road from Bothwell Bridge to Bellshill ; on the south by the lands of Douglass Park ; and on the south-east by the river Calder. These lands are now practically represented by the farms of Orbiston Mains and Bankhead, and a portion of the town of Bellshill. The site chosen for the establishment was a richly wooded bank overlooking the Calder river, about two hundred yards south of Orbiston Mains Farm, and well secluded from the public roads. The situation commands an extensive view of the beautiful valley of the Clyde and the siu-rounding cotmtry. ' Part of the lands of Orbiston had previously been sold to Mr. Gilbert Douglass, and ' Douglass Park,' now ' Orbiston House/ was built on the ground. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM After the plans of the projected estabhshment had been fully matured, with the view of spreading the glad tidings among the adherents of the new system, Hamilton and Combe proceeded to London, and exhibited before the London Co-operative Society a model of the proposed buildings at Orbiston. This society, composed of individuals interested in social reform, met weekly to discuss the subject of poverty and kindred problems.^ In such a company it is not surprising to learn that the news of the proposed experiment at Orbiston met with due appreciation. Combe, in explaining the project to the society, stated that at the commencement it would be conducted partly on the old system of rewarding the labourer in proportion to his industry ; but, when the minds of the members had become educated to the change, they would gradually emerge into the system of mutual co-operation and equal distribution ; in other words — Socialism. By that time Owen's views had widened and expanded; and when the project was laid before him, he would listen to no half measures. He maintained that the society from the very start should be conducted on the principles of absolute equality and community of property ; each member who laboured to the best of his abiUty receiving food and clothing according to his needs. On the other hand, Hamilton and Combe, no doubt ' The society^ on 1st January 1826, started the Co-operative Magazine and Monthly Herald. 184 ORBISTON profiting by their former experience, held that, beginning, as they were, with unequal forces of sect, race, and social rank, independence must be secured before men could be equal. Through time equality wovdd follow as a natural result. ' Well, gentlemen,' said Owen, after the discus- sion ; ' I have told you what ought to be done : you differ from me : carry out your plans.' Hamilton and Combe, who up to that period had depended on Owen's advice and financial support, took their own way without his help or guidance, and on the 18th of March 1825 building operations were begun at Orbiston. By that time Owen had gone to America ; and, although his name is usually associated with the Orbiston community, he took no active part or interest in the establishment further than express- ing his good wishes for its success. Only once, in the summer of 1827, was he known to have visited the place.^ In this connection, Abram Combe, on being accused of making certain objectionable statements in the Register during Owen's absence, replied that he alone was responsible for all errors committed either in theory or practice at Orbiston ; that, in fact, Owen did not even know of such a publication as the Register ; nor was he even aware of the buildings being in progress until a few months after the operations had commenced.^ By the founding of the Orbiston community ^ New Harmony Gazette, Vol. III. 2 The Orbiston Register, Vol. I. p. 70. 185 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM the social movement again became popular, and, strange to say, Owen's absence from the country did good for the cause; since many who were afraid to face the ignorant prejudices, which existed against Owen and his system, now avowed themselves friendly to his aims. i86 ORBISTON CHAPTER XXI Having traced the line of events that led to the founding of the Orbiston community, we shall next consider the methods by which it was governed and conducted. Before doing so, however, it would be well to inquire more closely into the character and mental attitude of its founders; because Hamilton and Combe were both remark- able men — perhaps, next to Owen, the most ardent social reformers of their generation. Archibald James Hamilton, son and heir to General John Hamilton of Dalzell and Orbiston, was born in Edinburgh on 28th October 1793. His mother was the only daughter of an army surgeon named Matthews, and there is quite a romance attached to her union with General Hamilton. Doctor Matthews was stationed in the West Indies, at the island of Guadeloupe, when it was occupied by British troops during the French War. While there both Dr. and Mrs. Matthews died, leaving an infant daughter totally unprovided for. Mr. Dalrymple, the Governor of the island, took charge of the child and sent her to his sister, Mrs. Hamilton of Dalzell, who brought up the 187 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM orphan girl along with her own children. Even- tually Miss Matthews married the second son, General John Hamilton. Three children were born of the marriage, the eldest being the above- mentioned Archibald James Hamilton, who, at the age of eighteen, joined the army as a lieutenant in the Fourth Dragoons. During the years from 1812 to 1814 he served with his regiment in Portugal, Spain, and France ; but after the surrender of Paris he returned to Dalzell. By the spring of the following year he was ordered to Belgium, where he joined the Scots Greys and took part in the final struggle against Napoleon at Waterloo. On that memorable day. Lieutenant Hamilton was with the Scots Greys in their famous charges ; and the carnage which he witnessed made a very deep impression on his life, and kindled within him the desire for social reformation. In a letter dated 24th June, 1815, from the camp near Mons, he gives the following graphic account of the battle : — ' Till this day I have not had time to write. You must have received ere this the accounts of what happened on the eighteenth. The slaughter of both armies has been dreadful; we have lost three-fourths of our officers in killed and wounded, two hundred men, and eight hundred horses — which was a pretty day's work. The Greys took an eagle, and the Royals another. ' I was Orderly Officer to General Ponsonby, and i88 ORBISTON was with him till he fell ; his Aide-de-Camp and I then cut our way thro' the enemy, who had got into our rear. ' The first thing we did in the morning was to charge a column of French infantry who had forced the left centre of our position, supported by the Cuirassiers and some of the Imperial Guard, They had just driven the Belgians from the heights and got possession of six guns when Ponsonby led on the Belgians in line ; they immediately halted, fired a volley which dropped a few of us ; not a man or horse went about, and in a minute we were in the middle of them. Those to the rear of the column still continued to fire on us. ' After killing, I can't tell what number, we made all the rest prisoners — about three thousand — ^which were immediately sent to the rear. Nothing could stop the men ; they went on, took a great number of the enemy's guns, and then, instead of halting, charged the Lancers and Cuirassiers. ' At this moment I lost sight of the General, who was killed, and cut my way to the rear; we being completely overpowered by a fresh column of infantry firing upon us, and by the Cuirassiers and Lancers having by this time rallied. 'We then retired and three squadrons were formed, nine in the brigade. We were then led to the centre of the army, where the battle became dreadful. We then charged a square of infantry on om- left, and the Life Guards one on our right ; between the two were formed the French Cuiras- 189 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM siers, and each flank of our two brigades rested on a square of Hanoverian infantry. ' At this moment everyone thought the battle lost when we charged, and the Life Guards and one half of our men were destroyed. We then threw the French into some confusion. ' The two brigades, the Life Guards and our- selves (the Scots Greys) were then formed into one squadron of about fifty file, and we again charged the Cuirassiers in front of us ; after which we stood, and the French did the same, and fired at each other with our carbines, not being more than forty yards from each other, both afraid to advance for fear of the infantry giving way. ' The French then brought up their guns close to us, and our guns came up also and fired grape shot ; the French throwing something like broken glass among us — at least it sounded so — ^which made some dreadful wounds. ' The Prussians fired on the right of the French and they gave way; all our hght cavalry then charged, and we pursued them as long as we could see them. ' At the end of the night I was sent to collect what men I could that had gone off with the wounded, and all that were left with the regiment was thirty-three officers and men. I buried eight officers the next day. Trotter was the first — he was shot through the heart. I have written his brother- in-law, and said I would pay his bills and remit home the money that arose from his things being sold. 190 ORBISTON I have bought Colonel Hamilton's horse/ which is a very fine one, five years old and fit to carry fifteen stone. . . . ' I lost some of my things, — many officers their whole baggage. The Belgian cavalry ran off to Brussels saying the army was defeated, and took our baggage from the men by force ; such a scene was never witnessed ; the road at last got blocked with waggons, and the Brunswick Hussars and the Belgians seized upon everything. . . . Write to my father when you get this and say I am well.' The year following, Lieutenant Hamilton returned on sick leave to Dalzell ; his illness having been caused by a severe attack of rheumatism contracted during the campaign. But shortly after reaching home he resolved to abandon the army as a profession, and devote himself to farming. He accordingly retired from his regiment and was placed on half-pay, without receiving the differ- ence.^ He was much provoked at this treatment, because he considered himself entitled to full consideration ; and, besides, he had expected some recognition for his services, especially at Waterloo. As an indication of his feelings on this matter, the following observations are noted in his Journal : ' Had I been aware at the time of the strength of my cause, and had I had the moral courage requisite to have enforced it, I should have made ' Colonel James Inglis Hamilton of Murdostoun, who was killed at Waterloo while giving the word of command. 2 Eight hundred guineas. 191 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM such an exposure as would have astonished the world. I should have given the amount of cowardice shown at Waterloo — the way in which many persons obtained promotion who left the field, while those who remained got none; the inclusion of men's names in the list of promotion as being at Waterloo, when some were actually seen in the streets of London that very day. . . . No nation has done so little to reward the lower rank of officers of the army as Britain, while the navy has fared even worse. Everything, prize money included, is given to those who have rank : no one below a field officer got even a Companion- ship of the Bath, and very few majors even got that.' ^ Diu-ing his marches with the army in Belgium he had been struck with the superior way in which the soil was cultivated, and made careful investigations into the methods. In commencing farming operations at Dalzell, he was eager to put his newly acquired knowledge into practice. With this aim in view, he selected an exhausted piece of land of thirty acres, which he levelled, limed, and manured, and thereafter awaited the result of his first sowings of wheat. The crop was an excellent one, much to the disappointment of the neighbouring farmers who had been watching ' the new-fangled notions of the laird's son.' In 1819, Hamilton married Miss Ramsay, daughter of an Edinburgh banker, and they spent ' Private Journal, p. 102. 192 FROM THE PORTRAIT IN DALZELL HOUSE ORBISTON the winter abroad. When in Paris, at that dis- turbed time, he was much incensed at seeing poor helpless citizens marched between files of soldiers with bayonets fixed, while the rich drove past in carriages. These scenes, he afterwards confessed, made him a decided Republican ; for he saw the impossibility of supporting any other kind of government without soldiers. By that time his mind had also turned fully in the direction of Socialism ; for to him, as to many others, Socialism was the only remedy for the evils that existed in society. On this subject it is surprising to find written in the journal of a young man of his station these pregnant reflections : ' In the towns the enormously rich jostles, yet insults, the wretched and dependent poor : in short, man must learn the most diflicult of all lessons, to distribute the wealth he has obtained for the benefit of all, instead of accumulating it, from age to age, for the advantage and happiness only of a few.' In the foregoing passage can be traced the influence of Owen's teachings. This should cause no wonder when we consider that Hamilton had been in the zone of contact with Owen's enthusiasm. They first met, in 1816, at dinner in Dalzeil House, and during the evening the conversation turned on the education of the lower orders of society. Hamilton ventured to observe that education might enable a man to forge a bill, who, while ignorant, never could do more than pick a pocket. N 193 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Owen replied that he agreed with the statemeat; because people must be given good habits as well as taught to read and write, or it would be little use to instruct them. From that night Owen showed the highest respect to Hamilton, for he saw in him the makings of an ardent disciple. Soon after Hamilton's return to Dalzell along with his young wife, he had cause to make known his Republican opinions, and thereby gave offence to several of the leading men in the county. The circumstances were these. In consequence of the riots at Manchester in 1819, and the fear of the disturbance becoming general, an order had been given to raise corps of yeomen throughout the country. When the matter came to be con- sidered in the county of Lanark, Hamilton pro- tested, and in strong language denounced the proposal to turn farmers and their sons into soldiers, in order to shoot down, if need be, starv- ing and discontented workmen, as had been done at Manchester. However, the regiments were formed, and in the following year were called to arms in connection with the threatened rebellion in Glasgow. Hamilton, indignant at the proceedings, declined to accept an office of honour to which he had been nominally elected ; ^ for, he said, ' I shall have no- thing to do with persons who are evidently ignorant of the principles of political freedom.' But the hostility towards his neighbours was somewhat ' Convener of the County of Lanark. 194 ORBISTON relaxed when he learned that, of all the counties in Scotland, Lanark was the only one that took courage to say 'No' to the address to King George iv. approving of the proceedings against the Queen. At that period, as has already been mentioned, great distress prevailed among the working-classes through want of employment. Hamilton, therefore, embraced the opportunity of putting his socialistic views into practice by employing a number of men in digging and trenching, and in forming embank- ments along the river Clyde. This was followed by an attempt at the ' cottage system,' namely, that of letting land on long leases for building purposes, with a field attached for keeping a cow, and for raising potatoes and other crops. But the experi- ment did not succeed ; as the tenants, who were mostly composed of weavers from the parish of Dalziel, complained that they had neither consti- tutions nor clothes adapted for outside labom-. In order to inquire more fully into Owen's plan for relieving public distress, the report of which had been presented to the county of Lanark, Hamilton invited a number of the neighbouring gentlemen to meet Owen at dinner at Dalzell House. There, with his usual composure, Owen expounded his system, and afterwards defended it so well against criticism that the result was entirely in his favour. On hearing Owen's exposi- tion of the new doctrine, Hamilton confessed that he began to realise the extent of his own ignorance, and gradually became a convert to the 'New Views.' 195 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Subsequently he seems to have been so intensely interested in Owen's personality that he followed him through the country, as if attracted by the magnetic influence of a prophet. He accompanied him during the visit to Mr. Coke at Holkham, and in London was introduced to the leading social reformers and politicians of the day ; and when Owen went to Ireland he followed in his train. With the aim of extending his knowledge of ethics and other subjects, he, at the age of twenty- eight, went to the University of Edinburgh, and attended the courses of Natural Philosophy under Professor Leslie ; Chemistry under Dr. Hope ; Moral Philosophy under Professor Wilson; and Natioral History under Dr. Jamieson. But he did not attend Dr. Jamieson's lectures so regularly as the others, for he avowed that he could not endure the Pro- fessor's bad pronunciation of mammalia. While residing in Edinburgh he came under the influence of George Combe, a celebrated phrenolo- gist of his day, which caused him to turn his atten- tion to the study of phrenology. This opened up a new field of speculation well suited to his imaginative temperament. He regretted that he had not come earlier into contact with the science, as in the past he had rarely acted on a ' philosophic view of the mind,' and, in consequence, had missed that success in life to which he thought he was entitled. He had also suffered through employing, and allowing others to employ, persons who were by 196 ORBISTON nature as well as circumstances quite unfitted to the purpose for which they were engaged. He seems afterwards to have exercised his phrenological readings among his neighbours, for he thus sums up a mental survey of a county meeting at Hamilton : ' I noticed that the worst head was in the chair, and that the best head was addressing the chairman.' The attendance at the University classes, especi- ally of Moral Philosophy, broadened his mind, and led him to view human affairs in a new light ; but, at the same time, it imbued him with the false impression that he was endowed Avith a special mission to solve the ' riddle of the painful earth.' With svich scanty equipment he began to enlighten his fellow-men, whom he considered sunk in darkness, by a series of letters to the Glasgow Chronicle, where with a fearless directness of speech he attacked the Scottish Confession of Faith. The defence was taken up by a Mr. M'Gavin, who recommended Hamilton to confine himself to Owen's ' squares and parallelograms,' and not interfere with a subject for which he had little aptitude and less knowledge. In the year 1824, he, and his wife who was in a critical state of health, set sail for Madeira ; but Mrs. Hamilton died before their destination was reached. For some time after this sad event he took little or no interest in public affairs ; although the following year found him, along with Abram 197 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Combe, busily engaged in the building operations at Orbiston. He did not, however, remain long a widower, for three years later he married EUinor, a daughter of Daniel Hamilton of Gilkerscleugh in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire. Two children were born of this marriage, a son and a daughter. The daughter died in infancy ; and the son, John Glencairn Carter Hamilton, was raised to the peerage in 1886 as Baron Hamilton of Dalzell.^ Disappointed by the failure of the Orbiston experiment, Hamilton, in broken health, went abroad, in the winter of 1827, in search of a more congenial climate. On returning to Dalzell two years later he resumed charge of his father's affairs on the estates ; but frequent attacks of rheumatism had undermined and weakened his constitution, and, at the comparatively early age of forty, he died in Edinburgh on 11th January 1834. Abram Combe " was an entirely different type of man from A, J. Hamilton, both in temperament and education. His parents were strict Calvinists, and he was carefully nurtured in these principles. On Sunday he went twice to church, and spent the rest of the day in learning the Shorter Cate- chism, Psalms, and Paraphrases. This restraint and want of enjoyment, he re- marked in after life, made his boyhood and youth very dreary and unhappy. After receiving an ' Father to the present Lord Hamilton of Dalzell. 2 Born in Edinburgh 16th January 1785. 198 ORBISTON elementary education he passed to the High School of Edinburgh ; but he never took kindly to the classical studies, and only learned as much as enabled him to escape with a moderate share of chastisement. Fraser, the classical master, did little to enlighten the perception of his pupils, or to render the lessons attractive. The good man, like many others of his day, practised only one method of making scholars, and that was to flog to the utmost extremity all who were deficient in the prescribed exercises. It is, therefore, not surprising to learn that young Combe took the earliest opportunity to free himself from this rule of terror. His father was a brewer in Edinburgh, and adjoining the brewery were several tanworks. Abram, attracted by the operations in the tan- yards, preferred the manufacturing of leather to the brewing of beer. He was accordingly apprenticed to the trade of a tanner, and at the completion of his apprenticeship went to London in order to acquire a wider knowledge of his trade. Two years thereafter he removed to Glasgow, and commenced business as a currier ; but, not meeting with the success expected, he returned in 1807 to Edinburgh, and set up a tanwork on his own account. In Edinburgh he was in his native element, and soon became well known among his friends as a wit, a satirist, and a cynic. He had a ready talent for mimicry, and possessed a keen sense of the 199 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM ludicrous. These he apphed in satirising people of exceptional traits of character and odd mannerisms. He also wrote hiunorous verses and parodies, a specimen of which may be quoted : ' Oh, Nature ! say in what untimely hour, Upon this Poet's numb-scull thou did'st shower Such an excrescence of black bushy hair. As if to shield the brains that are not there ? ' In business he had the reputation of being scrupulously just in all his dealings ; but, at the same time, capable of driving a hard bargain. He believed, and acted on the principle, that men form their own characters and dispositions. As a result, when any one committed an act which he considered contrary to what was right, he was unsparing in his remarks towards the offender. But in the autumn of 1820 he visited the New Lanark establishment, and was shown over the mills and schools by Owen himself, who expounded his views on the formation of character, the advantages of co-operation, and the importance of right education. After subsequent meetings with Owen, and the reading of his Essays on the Formation of Character, Combe became a zealous advocate of the doctrine that the characters of men are formed by their natural constitutions and by external circumstances. This conversion to the ' Ncav Views ' entirely altered the character of Combe, and changed his outlook on life. In Owen's Avords, ' his mind was 200 ORBISTON born again.' Formerly, his first consideration was for his own personal interests and selfish ends ; but after his deliverance he professed and practised the precept that happiness for self can only be attained by conduct that promotes the happiness of others. In this thrill of moral conviction he ceased the writing of satires and epigrams, and devoted the remainder of his life, in word and deed, to the furthering of the social reformation as revealed to him in the new system. After the failure of the social experiment with his workpeople he turned his attention for a time to the writing of books and pamphlets explanatory of the ' New Views.' In 1823 appeared An Address to the Conductors of the Periodical Press upon the Causes of Religious and Political Disputes, and Metaphorical Sketches of the Old and New Systems. These were followed, in 1824, by The Religious Creed of the New System, with an Explana- tory Catechism, and A Proposal for Commencing the Experitnent of Mr. Owen's System. While the writings reveal the meekness and charity which characterised his later days, still, on the other hand, they are so involved and wordy as to be scarcely readable. In 1825, Combe and his family removed to Orbis- ton, where he devoted all his time and energies, and the greater part of his means, to the interests of the establishment. But the labour and anxiety entailed at the commencement of the scheme gradually impaired his health ; and towards the 20I ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM end of August 1826, while inspecting the unfinished workshops, he contracted a severe chill which developed into an attack of inflammation of the lungs. He was removed to his brother's house at Edinburgh, and was never again permitted to return to Orbiston. During his illness he frequently spoke of his past life, and on occasions said that the last few years during which he had been actively engaged in promoting the welfare of others had been much happier than when he acted on the selfish system. He never tired of speaking about Orbiston; and, with his wonted enthusiasm, expressed confidence in its ultimate success. He was anxious, however, not to be misunderstood or misrepresented after he was away; and a few days before his death he dictated his last testimony : ' I have compared the effects of the old system with those of the new : and I have also compared and examined the character which both systems have produced ; and I am quite satisfied that the new system is much superior to the old. Under the old, we really see through a glass darkly, and know even as we are known. But under the new, a very short time makes us see face to face. This has been proved at Orbiston beyond a shadow of a doubt. Men who came there with many profes- sions have had these professions dissipated, and themselves rendered objects of pity in the eyes of the community : while others who have made no such profession have become objects of general 202 ORBISTON esteem. In fact, the laws of nature continue to act, let us do what we may. Feelings and actions like those manifested by A. J. Hamilton create general esteem among all rational creatures, whether they will or not ; and so it is with Robert Owen and all who devote their labour and means for the benefit of their fellow-men.' ^ On the morning before he died (11th August 1827) his countenance kindled into vigour when he was told that Owen was expected in Edinburgh. But the end came a few hours before Owen arrived. ' If any epitaph is written for me,' he said, ' let it be simply this : " That his conduct in life met the approbation of his own mind at the hour of death." ' 1 The Orbuton Register, September 19, 1827, No. 34. 203 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XXII Never was an undertaking entered into with more eagerness and enthusiasm than the Orbiston com- munity. Indeed, so impatient were Hamilton and Combe to see the estabUshment in active operation that the buildings were actually com- menced before the financial arrangements were concluded. The promoters, in order to acquire the estate of Orbiston and to erect the bviildings, formed them- selves into a joint-stock company called ' The Orbiston Company,' who in turn let the land and buildings to a company of tenants afterwards designated ' The Orbiston Community.' By the articles of agreement, dated 18th March 1825, the capital of the Orbiston company had not to exceed £50,000, divided into two hundred shares of £250 each. The stock was to be advanced quarter! v^ by instalments of £10 per share imtil £100 had been paid up ; then an additional sum of £50 on each share was to be given as a loan to the company of tenants, as might be required, but only as a voluntary subscription. The trustee had power to borrow money upon the security of the company's property to the extent 204 ORBISTON of the purchased price of the land, viz., £19,995. At the very outset the trustee, Abram Combe, exercised this right in the following manner : by borrowing on bond £12,000 from the Scottish Union Insurance Company, £3000 from Archibald Ainsley ; and by granting a bond of £4,995 to General John Hamilton. The concluding article in the agreement provided for the winding-up of the company in the event of the experiment proving iinsuccessful, as follows : ' If, unhappily, experience shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the majority of the proprietors that the new system, introduced and recommended by Robert Owen, has a tendency to produce in the aggregate as much ignorance in the midst of knowledge, as much poverty in the midst of excessive wealth, as much illiberality and hypoc- risy, as much overbearing cruelty and fawning servility, as much vanity and ignorant conceit, as much filthiness and brutality, as much avarice and unfeeling selfishness, as much fraud and dishonesty, as much discord and violence, as have invariably attended the existing system in all ages, then shall the property either be let to the best advantage to individuals acting under the old system; or sold, and the proceeds divided as the said majority shall determine.' In Abram Combe's pamphlet, The Sphere of Joint-Stock Companies ; or, The way to increase the value of Land, Capital, and Labour, a sketch is given of the proposed buildings at Orbiston. 205 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM According to this sketch, the estabhshment was intended to consist of a huge structure, 680 feet in length and four stories in height, based on the design of Owen's parallelogram. The plan indicates a central block 148 feet long and 44 feet in breadth, with the middle portion projecting 10 feet towards the front, and 20 feet to the back. To the right and left of the central block were ranges of buildings 42 feet in breadth, and extending 266 feet in each direction ; and attached to the front at the extreme ends were projecting wings. The whole of the central block was intended for public use : the basement at the back to be utilised as kitchen, bakehouse, storage, and cellars ; and the front portion as stores or bazaars, besides two large rooms for public purposes. On the ground floor the plan provides for a large lecture room, flanked on each side by a dining- room 50 feet by 40 feet. The dining-rooms were divided into a series of boxes, each to accom- modate eight individuals, and so arranged that about four hundred persons could dine together. The food was to be conveyed from the kitchen by means of an elevator, and it was the intention that the waiting at the tables should be done by the elder children of both sexes, whose wants were to be satisfied beforehand. On the floor immediately over the dining-rooms were a ball-room, 60 feet by 40 feet, and two drawing-rooms, each 40 feet by 25 feet; also a library, recreation and committee rooms. 206 ORBISTON ESTABLISH/nE Nj COAPILED FROA AN OLD PRINT. t t t I M 1 i_l_L IIIllifirKiiililii IIIIIIIIIIIIIVIII Illlllllllllltlll I Hill" JOUTH EtEVATIOH E — ENTRANCED D — DINING ROOM5 L — LECTURE ROOM 3 — 5CHOOL ROOM R — UVINO ROOMS I I I T i I I I 1° 30 This volume is presently in the library at Dalzell. 287 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Stonehouse, and, it is not surprising to learn, a number of the inhabitants of Orbiston, each eager to try the fighting mettle of his terrier. At some of the bouts the badger could not be drawn, and remained master of the situation, and the dog would return suffering from the wounds inflicted in the struggle. At other times, amidst the shouts and cheers of the onlookers and the yells of the animals, the badger, with the blood of the conflict upon him, would be driven to the mouth of the box, and the dog that had performed the cruel deed proclaimed the victor. When the news spread abroad that ' play-acting ' had been added to other forms of wickedness at Orbiston, the local clergy embraced the opportunity to paint the sins of the community in darker colours than even those which recorded the infamy and vice of the ancient Babylonians. They also asserted that the community was devoid of all forms of religious ordinances. While it is true that, as a body, they had no special form of religion, still the members were granted the utmost freedom to worship according to the dictates of their own consciences, and they were requested to allow the same freedom of thought to others differing from them in opinion. As the members were composed of all sorts and conditions of men, there was naturally a variety of religious sects, and each sect took its own method of giving expression to the faith it professed. Those who called themselves ' Adherents to Divine ORBISTON Revelation ' had a special room set aside for their use by their leader, Abram Combe. They met on Sunday forenoons at eleven o'clock, and strangers were admitted to the service. There were no devotional ceremonies, and the form of worship was somewhat after the manner of the Quakers. The Baptists had also formed themselves into a church, while those who were actuated by a sense of duty to old society attended the churches in the neighbouring parishes. Besides, Miss Whitwell lectured on theological subjects to those who had a mind to attend. The Sunday afternoons were generally spent by the members in discussing the ministers, and the sermons they had heard during the day. William Smith, the baker of the establishment, was a regular attender at Dalziel Church, and one Sunday he returned to Orbiston much displeased. ' The pulpit was occupied,' he said, ' by a stranger, the Revd. Mr. Clason being from home ; and never in all his life had he heard such an exhibition of preaching. The man, in fact, wasna worth ringing the bell for.' 289 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XXX By the end of 1826 the north portion of the pro- jected scheme was entirely completed, and a commencement made with the central block, the basement of which had been carried up a few feet. But at that stage the proprietors declined to under- take further financial responsibility in connection with additional building, as they were disappointed at the lack of unity amongst the members. The operations were, therefore, abandoned, and what was intended for the communal kitchen and bake- house is now a muddy swamp in the Orbiston woods. Among other improvements for the comfort and convenience of the community, a large reservoir for the storage of the domestic water-supply had been constructed on the high ground a little to the west of the establishment, and the water led to the building. A system of drainage, much in advance of the ideas of sanitation at that time, had also been introduced. This consisted of an egg-shaped stone built sewer, 4 feet by 2 feet 8 inches, carried from the buildings to settling tanks, similar to the modern septic tank for sewage purification. There were two such tanks, one measuring 20 feet by 10 feet, and the other 15 feet by 10 feet, both con- 290 ORBISTON structed underground of arched masonry. The former was intended to retain the solids, which were afterwards used for manuring the fields, while the latter provided liquid for the kitchen garden. The work was planned and carried out under the super- vision of J. Hutton, superintendent of the agri- cultural department, and John Paine, the foreman of the masons.^ Within the establishment itself matters had con- siderably improved, more especially in the domestic arrangements. The stairs and passages were swept daily, and the children's dormitories, mess, and schoolrooms were also kept in order. On the former occasion when the cooking and sup- plying of food for the whole community were done in common, it had been proved that all the children under twelve years of age could be fed for the same sum as that required to meet the wants of the adults alone when dining in families. Four shillings a head per week was then found sufficient to cover the expense of both parents and children ; the cost of maintaining the elder working boys, between twelve and eighteen years of age, being paid by the proprietors. According to this arrangement the children were no burden to their parents. But on the withdrawal of so many of the members from the public mess the children again became an encumbrance. In obedience to the sixth article of the com- munity's regulations, that the closest union should 1 The. Orbiston Register, Vol. I. p. 46. 291 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM exist among the members in procm'ing their supplies and cooking their food, it seemed imperative that another effort should be put forth to get the mem- bers to dine in common. Accordingly, a committee to regulate the public mess was appointed, who made the necessary arrangements for all the food in the establishment being cooked as for one family. In order, however, to obviate the former objection of social inequality all the members partook from a common table. The whole expense connected with the cooking was divided among the various indi- viduals and placed to their debit, and the females, who were not inclined to be useful to the com- munity, had the cost of their maintenance charged against their husbands.^ John Reid was appointed messman, with two female assistants, and the wholesome food provided, and the order and cleanliness in which it was served, gave general satisfaction. Under the improved conditions about three-fourths of the members returned to the public mess. The weekly charge for each advilt, as formerly, was four shillings per head, that sum having been found sufficient to meet all the expense of food and cooking. The bread, which was baked within the establishment by John Smith, with the assistance of two boys, consisted of two- and four-pound loaves, besides a large quantity of scones and soft rolls, and on special occasions an attempt was made at pies. Smith also wished to try his hand at the baking of ' The Orbiaton Register, Vol. II. p. 45. 2Q2 ORBISTON biscuits, Strathaven ginger-bread, and other fancy cakes, in order, as he said, to supply the tea-parties that were held in the neighbourhood. At that time the number of inhabitants at Orbiston, exclusive of children in arms, was 298. Of that number, 104 adults, 44 working boys, and 73 children, including girls, fed at the common mess. The remainder, consisting of 64 adults and 13 children, preferred to draw goods from the store and provide for themselves. It, therefore, seemed impossible to unite the members of the community as one family. A comparative statement of the relative weekly consumpt discloses a wide disproportion between the two sections, and, at the same time, reveals some of the inner workings of the community. From the store 200 pecks of meal were sold, and of this amount only 97 pecks were used at the public mess to feed 221 persons ; while the other 103 pecks went to the 77 who fed separately. And of the £20 spent on bread, only £6, 3s. 4d. was con- sumed at the mess. Similarly, with sugar and tea, the majority consumed 4i lbs. of tea and 60i lbs. of sugar; and in the same period the minority managed to put away 7 J lbs. of tea and 91 1 lbs. of sugar. With butcher meat the same discrepancy prevailed ; of the value of £4, 10s. sold, £2 was consumed by the individuals providing for them- selves. Besides, the 77 took fully three times as much salt and butter as the 221.^ 1 The Orbiston Register, Vol. II. p. 57- ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM As the large difference in the consumption of food between those in the pubhc mess and those out of it could not be accounted for on any reason- able grounds, the committee inferred that the surplus was either given away to outsiders, or exchanged for other commodities. In the Orbiston Register of 11th July 1827, Stephen Fenner, who had assumed the editorship, drew attention to the matter in the following note : — ' It is well for the proprietors to provide food for the population here, but it is unreasonable in us to also expect them to furnish food for the people of Bellshill, Crossgates, Motherwell, Bothwell, and Hamilton. We know that food, as well as other things are taken out of the store, and carried to some of these places, and not infrequently to obtain those things that they would be better without. For our own sakes as a community, for the love we bear, or ought to bear, to those whose utmost anxiety is our welfare, we ought not to suffer the evils to continue. . . . Some have been in the habit of earning just as much as they wish to consume, drawing and consuming the whole of their earnings, leaving nothing for rent and other pubhc burdens. The accumulation of stock being entirely ignored.' At that time the community were beginning to feel the pinch of circumstances, as the stock in the store was being rapidly reduced, and there was a dearth of money to purchase fresh suppUes. Referring to this subject the editorial continued : 294 ORBISTON ' If there is but little, let those who are deserving have a portion of the little, and not some grasp all and the rest be compelled to go without.' The article concluded with the wholesome advice, which is as much needed to-day : ' We should also en- deavour to cultivate among us an openness and sincerity of character. Whatever we think of each other, we should have firmness enough to say to the individuals with a view to their correction and not to their injury. How much more noble and generous would such conduct be than the sly insinuations, the tattling, the backbiting, which sometimes takes place, even from quarters where it is least expected. It is hoped that this general statement will be sufficient to remove the evils complained of ; if not, the names of the aggressors will be published.' ^ While in its external aspect the community seemed prosperous, still matters never went well within the establishment. In addition to the increasing trouble over the question of equal dis- tribution, the instruction, health, and useful occupa- tion of the children proved a constant source of anxiety to the committee of management. Hitherto there had been no proper arrangements for the care and superintendence of the children, some of whom slept in the same room with their parents, and others in the dormitories. Desirous to see a closer union amongst the children, and to have them associate as one family, the committee 1 The Orbiston Register, Vol. II. pp. 58-59. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM resolved to appoint a matron to act the part of a kind and indulgent mother — one who would ascer- tain all their wants, listen patiently to their various requests, and endeavour to make them comfortable and happy. A female, thought to possess a combination of all those exceptional qualifications, was found among the inmates. In order that she should fill the position properly, the following rules and regulations were laid down for her guidance : — The dormitories were to be open for the re- ception of all under eighteen years of age, and every individual before being admitted was to be examined by the doctor of the community, and certified as in a fit state of health. The matron had also to take charge of the clothes of all the children, and see that they were kept clean and in good repair. For the purpose of order and decorum, the children were classed according to age and sex. The first di-\dsion consisted of both sexes under five years of age. These were to be accommodated near the matron, so as to be under her constant supervision. In the second division were grouped the children between five and twelve years of age ; the boys and girls being placed on different floors. The children in this division were to retire at eight in the evening, and rise at six in the morning. The third section was to be made up of all the youths between twelve and eighteen, and the sexes were to be accommodated on different floors. These 296 ORBISTON were to rise at half-past six in the morning, and retire to bed at nine o'clock at night. The children were requested to conduct them- selves in a quiet and orderly manner while in the dormitories ; and, for cleanliness, to take off their boots before entering the room. When the matron had any cause for complaint against any of the children under her charge, she was first to remon- strate with the children themselves ; and, if that failed, their conduct was to be reported to the committee. If any of the children, or their parents, had complaints to make against the matron, a similar course had to be adopted. But these proposals, whenever they were put into operation, met with opposition from the female section of the community. Since the com- mencement of the experiment it had been the practice to pay the parents for washing and mend- ing the clothes of their children ; and, as they were to be deprived of the remuneration received from that source, the parents objected to the clothes of their children being washed and repaired as the clothes of one family, and kept under the charge of the matron. To obviate further difficulty in that direction the paj^ments were withdrawn, and other employment found for the malcontents. The dormitory arrangements, however, never got a fair trial before the downfall of ' Babylon.' The storm clouds were gathering, and, by March 1827, the deficiency of capital was beginning to be felt in many directions, and causing privations to 297 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM a number of the inhabitants of the httle colony. It was evident that the experiment would not succeed, and the members were, in consequence, losing faith in the new system. As the difficulties seemed unsurmountable, a number left in despair. One of those wrote to William Combe that, as everything had the appearance of perishing, he should tell the public nothing about the place that was false, and added, ' he had served on a man- of-war, and he preferred that to living at Orbiston.' Among those who remained were a number of unremitting grumblers. A female, from south of the Tweed, proclaimed aloud that she was on the point of starvation, and that her English pride would not allow her to ask a favour of her Scotch neighbours. She accused the Orbiston Register of having deceived them as to the comforts to be obtained at Orbiston ; and vowed that, if the Lord spared her to get back to London, she would take with her a piece of beef, and show the London Co-operative Society, who recommended the place, what was allowed for a man and his wife at the communal dinner.^ Others complained that there existed no security for the labour sunk, as some of the foundry department had sold their stock at half its original value — in one instance, £16 of stock having been sold for £3. Alexander Campbell, that ardent advocate of equal distribution, also came in for his due share of ridicule and abuse. It was asserted that his ' The Orbiston Register, Vol. II. p. 34. 298 ORBISTON living rooms in the building had six bound doors, and that the walls were painted in a style, and at an expense, far exceeding that of the apartments occupied by some of the proprietors; while the walls of his neighbour's rooms were not even white- washed, and had only one door, and that at the best badly fitting and draughty. This example of ' equal distribution ' caused many misgivings, especially in the minds of those who suffered from the effects of the wintry blasts blowing through the chinks of the doors. The time came when Abram Combe could no longer render active service, and very soon it became apparent that his brother William was unable to manage the business of the community without Abram's assistance. The affairs, therefore, gradually assumed a serious aspect. With the view of averting open anarchy, and, if possible, retaining the confidence of the community, William Combe, in terms of the trusteeship, associated himself with twelve of the leading members as a committee of management. Yet all these efforts to retrieve the broken fortunes of the community, and to restore order in their midst, proved unavailing. Perhaps the great- est enemies to the cause of social reform were to be found within the establishment itself, as the hide- bound prejudices engendered in old society still prevailed. And as a prejudiced man always finds food for umbrage, so Captain O'Brien continued to display his animosity towards the whole under- 299 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM taking. Ever since the introduction of communism the Captain had been as a firebrand in the com- munity. The new system of equal distribution had scarcely come into operation when he endeavoured to persuade the members that it was impossible for them to succeed, as the high demands of the proprietors for the lands and buildings would require more than the whole establishment could produce. Not content with disturbing the peace of the community, he, along with Mr. Jones, carried the warfare outside by stating publicly ' that Orbiston, as proposed to be conducted, could not stand, and that a break up amongst its members must speedily take place.' Such reports, like all unfavourable reports, soon spread, and had a most damaging result on the credit of the community. Some of the proprietors, on hearing the report, became suspicious of the whole affair, and declined to advance further sums to the scheme. A. J. Hainilton continued his support; but a strenuous effort was made by Captain O'Brien to induce Mr. Hamilton to with- draw his helping hand, upon the ground that the property and the money already advanced would inevitably be lost. In other words, the Captain inferred that the community were con- suming more than they were producing, and con- sequently eating the whole produce of their own labour, besides a portion of the capital of the proprietors. These and like statements had the effect of 300 ORBISTON further blighting the hopes of the members, and even the foundry company's confidence in the system began to wane. Robert Hicks, one of the best of the workmen, was the first to leave, having sold his shares at half price. He was followed by that consistent opponent of equal distribution, William Wilson. But, as the latter could not find a purchaser for his stock, he raised a law suit against the Orbiston company for the balance of his stock. The following letter was received by the company from his law agent : — ' Hamilton, '2nd May 1827. ' Sir — Mr. William Wilson, turner, late of Orbis- ton, now in Hamilton, has instructed me to take legal measures for enforcing payment of £26, 9s. 9d., as the amount of stock due to him by the Orbiston company, as certified by A. Campbell, superinten- dent, unless the same is paid in the course of this week. ' Requesting your attention to this, — I am, your most obedient servant, (Sgd.) James Naismith, Writer. To Wm. Combe, Esq., Orbiston.' In reply, it was pointed out that, according to the terms on which the proprietors of the Orbiston estabUshment let the premises and lent capital, the agreement was with the community as a whole, and not with the individual members. So, nothing further was heard of the claim. Wilson seems to have become pacified, as shortly afterwards he ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM petitioned Mr. Hamilton to use his influence to get him back to Orbiston, To aggravate still further the unsatisfactory state of matters, the Scottish Union Insurance Company and Archibald Ainslie, who held bonds over the estate to the extent of £15,000, increased the rate of interest from 3| to 5 per cent., and this alone added £l per acre to the rent of the land. Notwithstanding all the rumours and impending troubles, many of the members took matters lightly, and, under the circumstances, had a fair share of enjoyment. On the second anniversary of the founding of the community, they celebrated the event with a social supper of tea and ham. The supper was followed by dancing to the music of the Motherwell Instrumental Band. It is said that the evening passed off in the happiest manner, the only expression of regret, in which the members of the band shared, being that the funds were at too low an ebb to permit of the musicians being treated to a refreshment of porter and ale; otherwise the merry-making might have continued longer.^ ' The Orhiston Register, Vol. 11. p. 35. 302 ORBISTON CHAPTER XXXI During the occupation of Orbiston the social Kfe of the community proceeded in an ordinary manner; there were marrying and giving in marriage ; men were born there, and men died there. Whilst the experiment lasted four births and six deaths took place, and the dead were interred in the private burying ground of the community, about a quarter of a mile north of the establishment. An eye-witness thus describes one of the funerals : ' Died on Monday, Edwin Hudson, aged three years, and on Thursday the simple funeral rites were performed. Two girls and two boys carried the coffin to the grave, attended by such inhabi- tants as found it convenient. After the grave had been filled, E. Simpson addressed the spectators in the following manner : " My friends, our worthy friend, Mr. Owen, has stated as his opinion, that on such occasions as this it is best to treat them as common occurrences, and that no ceremony what- ever should be used, and we should merely deposit the body and then retire. I dissent from this opinion, as I am inclined to think that no occasion affords so favourable an opportunity for improve- ment as an occurrence of this nature. At such 303 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM times all the angry passions become softened and subdued, and the best feelings of our nature reign triumphant." ^ Latterly, the fame of Orbiston attracted so many visitors to see the community's operations that special regulations had to be made for their reception. For the convenience of those from a distance, part of the farmhouse was fitted up as an inn, with bedrooms, a sitting-room, and stabling for horses. The hours set apart for visitors ex- tended from twelve noon to six o'clock in the evening, Sundays excepted, and they were shown round the apartments by one of the members. From experience elsewhere, the visitors supposed that the best way to receive a favourable reception by those who conducted them through the building was to offer gratuities ; but the offers were respect- fully declined, as the acceptance of such would be at variance with the principles of the new system. The interests of the community, however, were otherwise promoted by the influx of stTangers, as purchases were made of the articles produced in the establishment. In the reports which had spread throughout the country, all the little errors and misdeeds of the inmates were grossly exaggerated, and one bad act given out as of general occurrence. Many of the visitors, therefore, went to Orbiston with unfavourable opinions of the community. But, on making an inspection of the establishment, 1 The Orbiston Register, Vol. I. p. 166. ORBISTON they expressed themselves as agreeably surprised to find things much different from what they had been led to expect. After a careful investigation of the records of the Orbiston community, we are led to the con- clusion that the members were neither better nor worse than their neighbours; as the jagged rocks of sin lie about us everywhere. Undoubtedly there existed, as in the neighbouring parishes, a considerable amovmt of drunkenness, but at no time during the experiment was there a criminal action against any of the inhabitants. And the only incident recorded of a serious lapse from moral rectitude was an unfortunate circumstance which John Grant had occasion to report to Abram Combe, and ask for advice. Combe in reply merely recommended an adherence to divine revela- tion ; ' for,' he said, ' I have dihgently examined the Bible, and in no instance whatever have I found any opposition to the great law which is written on the hearts of all men, and which says that whatever augments human happiness is right, and whatever diminishes this happiness is wrong ; and there is no other law by which the intercourse of the sexes can be regulated.' ^ The affairs of the community dragged slowly on from day to day. Although there were some laborious, steady, and active persons, yet, with the many there was an absence of enterprise except in that which affected them individually. The ^ The Orbiston Community, Vol. II. p. 46. u 305 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM majority were to be seen going about the place with a careless, listless apathy, resembling the dumb expectancy of Arabs in the desert. By the end of June 1827, the financial situation had become so embarrassing that the committee of management was obliged to investigate more closely the actual workings of all the departments of industry, in order to ascertain if the earnings of each individual were equal to what he was con- suming. The result of the inquiry was the death- blow to communism, and a return to individualism. The committee recommended that in the future operations of the community the v/ork should be given out by the piece, and where that could not be conveniently done the wages were to be regulated by the superintendents of the departments. At the same time, the members were urged to bestir themselves under the new conditions, and to ' make economy and industry their watchword, and all would yet be well.' ^ The new arrangement, however, made no appreci- able difference in the conduct of the members. It seemed only a question of time till the day of reckoning came, and it came sooner than some of them expected. The last hope of retrieving the fortunes of the community vanished on the 11th day of August 1827, when the sad news reached Orbiston that Abram Combe, after many weary months of suffering, had passed beyond human help. Happily, until the end, his life remained ' The Orbiston Register, Vol. II. p. 61. 306 ORBISTON unclouded, as he had come to regard his great object in life as accomplished and complete. After ' life's fitful fever ' a few friends and faithful disciples laid him to rest. Over his grave no prayers were said, other than those which the heart uttereth ' twixt closed lips.' Bereft of the guiding hand of the pilot, the affairs of the community drifted from bad to worse, like a ship in a storm, and soon became a total wreck. There is a certain pleasure, tinged with sadness, when we contemplate these earnest and well- intentioned efforts of Abram Combe for the welfare of humanity ; efforts from which so much was ex- pected, and so little issued. But, after all, few lives, if any, realise their possibilities. Yet Abram Combe was not a failure, though his adventures in Socialism at Orbiston may appear so. He was an idealist, ever striving for the highest and the best, or for what Hegel called ' The KingdoiTi of Heaven on Earth.' In his adventures he did not so much con- cern himself with making men Socialists, as in en- deavouring to make social conditions humane. His influence, perhaps next to that of Owen, gave the impulse to that earnest humanitarian spirit which has been infused into modern social life, and is widening out from day to day. After the death of Abram Combe an appeal was made to A. J. Hamilton for his financial help in re-organising the society, but the state of his health prevented him from taking any further interest in the undertaking. Even had his health 2,07 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM permitted he was of the opinion that, if lie interfered at that juncture, it would only be putting off the evil day, as the members would do nothing or next to nothing for themselves. ' It would also,' he said, ' be against the spirit of the system, as every individual in such a society should feel himself interested in its success. By mutual and combined exertions they should work out their own social salvation ; but,' he added, ' this has never been exemplified in the members of the Orbiston community.' ^ The last official information we have of the com- munity appeared in No. 34 of the Orbiston Register, of 19th September 1827, which contained, among other matters pertaining to the society, a memoir and appreciation of Abram Combe. Towards the end, the situation became so deplor- able that the members who remained confessed that the wretchedness of old society was preferable to Orbiston. The climax came in December 1827, when William Combe, as trustee of the Orbiston company, was pressed to the utmost extreme by one of the bondholders for payment of his loan; and, having no funds at command to meet either the capital or interest, he gave orders to the members to leave ' Babylon.' The experiment was accordingly abandoned. William Combe, along with a number of the members, went to seek new fields of operation in America, while many of the others returned to their places in old society, ' A. J. Hamilton's Private Jouniaf, p. 200. 30S ORBISTON branded for the rest of their lives with the byword of ' Babylonians.' Until arrangements were made for the disposal of the estate a few of the members, with Alexander Paul as manager, were retained to work the lands on behalf of the proprietors. On the whole, the Orbiston project was a dismal failiire, and many reasons are given for the collapse of the experiment, A. J, Hamilton attri- buted the downfall to the fact that many of the members were too near their friends, who took them away to drink ; and also to the influence of the clergy who tried to entice them to desert ' Babylon,' telling them that while they remained their souls were endangered, Hamilton, however, like Owen and Combe, never lost faith in the system, contending that ' the experi- ment at Orbiston was no fair test of Pantisocraty,' ^ Speaking of the non-success of Orbiston, Owen, in a letter to A, J, Hamilton, of 14th October 1828, said : ' It will gratify you to learn that the good cause is progressing substantially in all countries, and that your exertions, although not crowned with immediate success at Orbiston, have con- tributed essentially to make the principles known, and to prepare the way for their practice in many places.' " But the cause of failure lay much deeper than the leaders imagined. The entire course of events at Orbiston showed that the people who collected 1 .4. J. Hamilton's Private Journal, p. 201. ^ Extract from a letter in Dalzell Library. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM there were unfitted for the task, besides having no uniform idea of the purpose that had brought them together. No doubt the theory was beautiful in itself, and might have satisfied the cravings of the heart; but the undertaking was based on wrong principles, both financially and socially, and never could have succeeded, even had the strong person- ality of Abram Combe remained at its head. The experiment proved conclusively that if society is to be regenerated it must be, as in Plato's Republic, by first regenerating the individual. Perhaps the most reliable information regarding the further operations and fortunes of the com- munity is obtained in the following letter from Alexander Paul to A. J. Hamilton : 'A. J. Hamilton, Esq., Geneva. ' Orbiston, by Holytown, nth August 1829. ' Dear Sir — I duly received your letter of the 3rd August, and it gives me much pleasure to hear of your being in good health, I trust it will long continue. With respect to your question of " What is doing, and what has been done at Orbiston ? " I wish I could write you something more satisfactory than anything I have to communicate upon this unfortunate concern. You know it was repeatedly tried by Mr. George Combe to dispose of it last year in one lot by public roup, at the upset price of £21,000; but no person ever came forward to offer for it. It was then agreed upon to try it in 310 ORBISTON lots, A Mr. Thomas Lowrie from Edinburgh was sent out to make a report upon the best method of lotting if off, and to examine and put a valuation on the lands. ' Copies of this report and valuation were sent to the different subscribers and bondholders, when Mr. Smith of London objected to it in toto, and will hear of nothing, nor agree to nothing, but to have his £5000 paid without any risk whatever. Under these circumstances, the Scottish Insurance Com- pany and Mr. Ainslie have considered it necessary to apply to the Lords of Session to order the property to be sold, they proving that it is burdened beyond its value ; a process of ranking and sale has accordingly been raised, and Deuchar and Knox, the agents for the Insurance Company, inform me that the owners' law expenses in this process will cost £500. This is the state of things with respect to the company. I have always re- mained here, and have paid off all the debts of the company ; I now keep their accoiuits, and Mr. Lowrie remains in the same way as when you left us. ' Considering what has been done for the lands, there is really an excellent crop upon them this season. We sold about a hundred acres on Saturday last, and a good number of acres of oats brought ten guineas per acre, and our beans averaged £9 per acre. ' As to my views in regard to the new system, as it is called, I must say they are considerably ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM changed. I now think that our experiment here would not have succeeded although it had been surrounded with much more favourable circum- stances than it really was ; although A. Combe had not been taken from us, and although funds had been realised to accomplish all that ever was proposed by the proprietors, I am afraid it would not have done. There was with a majority of those we had with us here, such a deficiency as to a knowledge as to the very nature of the principles of the system — such a want of principle, and even of common morality and habits of a contrary tendency, so strongly fixed — that it would have baffled the most favourable circumstances that it would have been possible to have placed them in, to have removed them. ' Mr. George Combe has succeeded in convincing me that, from the wav that we have all been brought up, and from the difference in our desires and feel- ings, it will be scarcely possible, under any circum- stances, to find an equal ntunber of individuals to what we had here who could go hand in hand with one another in such an experiment. I agree with you in thinking that an experiment of the kind must be commenced on a small scale to make it succeed, and that the individuals joining should be known to each other, and have full confidence in one another. ' I agree with you in thinking that America, from many circumstances, is the best country for making such an experiment. You, for one thing, would 312 ORBISTON be out of the influence of old society that was such a drag upon us here ; and America will evi- dently rise and flourish in all her interests for cen- turies yet to come, while Britain is evidently rapidly faUing, and will yet fall. Indeed, you can have little idea of the misery that is already abroad here. On Saturday last there were upwards of seven hundred unemployed men in the town of Hamilton, with no prospect whatever of any permanent relief. Personally, I have no other idea at present than that on leaving this I shall go to America ; indeed, I always look back with regrets that we did not accept of the liberal offer of Mr. Ellerby, and go out last year. I consider Mr. E. to have very rational views of co-operation, and at that time there were a few of us joined together to go, that I think we had a very considerable prospect of success. ' I consider it to be of the greatest consequence for the success of such an experiment that each individual should feel a personal interest in it, and those that were joined at that time were going to carry themselves out, and each to lodge a small sum as a share in the company. From the abrupt manner that the above scheme was broken up by Wm. Combe, I felt a dehcacy in corresponding further with Mr. E. about it ; but were anything of the kind yet to be tried, I think he Avould in different respects be found extremely useful. I, under such an arrangement, not only would have no objections to go, but would cheerfully become 313 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM one of such a party, and on another side of the Atlantic try to find out comfort and happiness in mutual co-operation. ' I have not the convenience in the present letter to write you any particulars of those that were at Orbiston. Mr. George Combe writes me he had a letter from Mr. Wm. from America; he is not doing anything. Mr. George says he displays the same want of energy on the other side of the Atlantic that formed so striking a feature of his character on this. ' Mr. Owen is expected home daily. Mrs. Owen and family are now residing at Hamilton, in a house belonging to John Allan the grocer. — I am, dear sir, yours most respectfully, (Signed) Alex. Paul. ' P.S. — I shall be most happy to hear from you again on this subject, and whatever is said shall be in confidence. — A. P.' Weary of body and saddened over the lamentable failure of Orbiston, and its attendant results on the fortunes of his family, A. J. Hamilton went abroad in order to escape the worry and trouble occasioned by the legal proceedings against the Orbiston company. An even worse fate befell the affairs of Abram Combe ; all his worldly possessions were absorbed in the adventure, and his wife and family were left destitute. After the breaking up of the community it was discovered that Alexander Campbell and WilUam 314 ORBISTON Sheddon, both members of the foundry company, had by the signing of a document made themselves liable for part of the debt. Through this generous and well intentioned action they were, at the instance of one of the creditors, confined in Hamil- ton Jail. While there they seem to have taken their incarceration lightly, as in a letter to Owen, dated from the jail on 3rd October 1828, Campbell stated that, notwithstanding all that had transpired, he was more than ever convinced of the truths of Owen's teachings. On being liberated Campbell was engaged as one of Owen's social missionaries, and spent the remainder of his life preaching the social doctrines of Robert Owen throughout the country. 315 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM CHAPTER XXXII We now come to the last act in the drama of the Orbiston community. After the abandonment of the experiment, John Grant, the substitute for Abram Combe named in the feu-disposition, was assumed as trustee of the Orbiston company. At the same time it was agreed that he should convey the trusteeship to Archibald James Hamilton, younger, of Dalzell and Orbiston, Alexander Paul, residing at Orbiston, and William Watson, also residing there, for behoof of the company, of all the lands originally sold to the company by General John Hamilton. Thereafter, as mentioned in Alexander Paul's letter, an attempt was made to dispose of the estate for £21,000; but, failing to find a purchaser, it was decided to divide the lands into three lots, and expose them for public sale. But Mr. Smith declined to run the risk of a forced sale, and the other mortgagers had no alternative but to pay out Smith and apply to the Court of Session to order a sale of the lands and buildings. A summons Avas accordingly served at the instance of the Scottish Union Insurance Company against the trustees of the Orbiston company ; and, on the 316 ORBISTON 21st March 1829, the Court granted an instrument of possession ; and by aet and factory, in favour of Alexander Paul, dated 4th June 1829, sequestrated the rents of the estate, and appointed him factor thereon. When the case of ranking and sale came before Lord Ordinary Meadowbank he sustained the pursuers' title, and allowed a proof of the rental value of the lands and buildings under sale. A number of witnesses, consisting mainly of the neighbouring farmers, gave evidence as to the value of the lands, while Mr, James King, builder, spoke to the value of the buildings. At the close the value of the estate was proved at £14,297, 15s. 2d., and the claims lodged amounted to £15,528, 2s. Id., leaving a deficiency of £1,230, 6s. lid., exclusive of arrears of interest and General Hamilton's heritable debt affecting the lands of £5000. The proven free rental of the lands, if let to tenants, amounted to £413, 13s. 5d., and of the buildings to £250, making a total of £663, 13s. 5d. Against this rental there appeared the interest on £15,000 of principal at five per cent., the rate payable by agreement, amounting to £775, which would leave an annual deficiency of £111, 6s. 7d. With these facts before them the Court held that in either case, of seUing or of letting, bankruptcy was estabhshed. By decreet of sale, dated 7th December 1830, the lands were sold at £15,050 to Mrs. Ceciha Douglass of Douglass Park, pro- prietrix of the adjoining estate. 317 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM It is stated in the decreet that the Orbiston company, and A. J. Hamilton, A. Paul, and W. Watson, as their trustees, were notoriously bank- rupt and insolvent, and that the creditors of the company were in possession of their lands and estates, and all other heritable subjects belonging to them. In the division of the price amongst the creditors it appears that the Scottish Insurance Company were paid in full, and that Archibald Ainslie only received part payment, while General Hamilton never got a penny. As the establishment, from its close proximity to the mansion-house of Douglass Park, had been a source of annoyance to Mrs. Douglass, she ordered the buildings to be sold in sections. Thereafter, the huge structure that had been intended to hasten in the millennium was razed to the ground, and for a time served as a quarry for the surround- ing neighbourhood. Some of the stones can still be seen in the farm-steading of Bankhead, and in several of the older buildings in Bellshill and Motherwell. By a strange coincidence a new parish church was at that time being erected at Bothwell, and during the building operations the congregation, with their minister the Rev. Dr. Gardiner, met for divine worship in the deserted halls of the ' Babylonians.' To-day nothing remains to tell the tale of this unfortunate venture in Socialism. The ground formerly occupied by the large and unattractive 318 ORBISTON four-story structure is overgrown with trees and brushwood, amongst which a careful observer may trace the Knes of the ruined foundations. The only indication that is left standing of the community's operations is the old flax mill that was used as a workshop by the foundry company. Although our investigations into the history of social reform have not extended beyond the period which marked the beginning of the industrial revolution, with its consequent opposing forces of capital and labour, followed by the revulsion against the system, yet the human appeal for social reform and liberty is no new claim. It can be traced back to the time when Socrates lay condemned in the prison at Athens for teaching the young Athenians that life was more than the gaining of money and reputation and rank. This call for freedom in the Apology found fit expression in the Republic of Plato, followed by St. Augustine's City of God, and the Utopia of Sir Thomas More. Then came Rousseau, with his passion for innate good- ness and liberty, and gave the battle-cry of freedom, ' Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.' This call sounded throughout the world like the blare of trumpets, culminating at last in the French Revolution. Out of that ferment of angry discon- tent there emanated the democracy and the Socialism of to-day. Robert Owen is characterised as the father of modern Socialism ; but his disciples in some matters have travelled far in advance of the master's teach- 319 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM ings, and in others have turned back. In his schemes, Owen contented himself with mutual co-operation and equal distribution of the neces- sities of life, leaving man to a certain extent free to work out his own individuality. That was the expression of the Socialism of his time ; but when put into practice at New Harmony and at Orbiston the theories proved unworkable; and the experi- ment in each case ended in disaster. The advanced section of modern Socialists, following the doctrine of Karl Marx, stop nothing short of an absolute community of property, together with the nationalisation of land and railways, and the appropriation of all forms of manufacturing industries, so that in due course the individual would merge into the collective unit. Perhaps it would not be fair to assume that, if put into operation, such theories would meet a fate similar to that which befell those of Robert Owen. But the test of a practical experiment would be conclusive evidence. There is another small, but intellectual, section of Socialists who, with similar objects in view, recognise that the ends aimed at will not be reached by revolutionary means, bxit rather by the slow process of evolution. They have accordingly con- structed their theories on the lines of compromise between what is desirable in social reform and what is possible ; with the result that some of their ideals have already been realised, such as old age pensions, the raising of the school age, and the 320 ■^■* ORBISTON public feeding of school children. These proposi- tions when first enunciated were set down as the dreams of Socialism, but now, that the mask is taken off, we only discern the features of social reform. On the whole, the social movement has an upward tendency. This is seen in the better con- ditions under which men labour, the more equitable relationship that exists between master and work- men, the introduction of a sliding scale of wages, and the averting of strikes in trade disputes by means of arbitration. The danger of the future, therefore, does not lie in that direction, but rather in the fierce competition between manufacturers themselves, both at home and abroad. What remedy may be found to counteract this growing evil, time only will reveal. Otherwise, there is a steady progress going on in the order of human affairs, by which the life of the individual is more closely knit with its fellow in social union, and the harsh line that formerly divided the masses from the classes is being gradu- ally narrowed. The aristocracy of the future will, in consequence, require to base its claim, not on the privilege of birth or the possession of wealth, but on the superiority of character and intellect. 'When the glad slave shall, at these feet, lay down His broken chain — the tyrant lord his crown. The priest his book, the conqueror his wreath. And from the lips of Truth one mighty breath X 321 ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Shallj like a whirlwind^ scatter in its breeze The whole dark pile of human mockeries : Then shall the reign of mind commence on earth. And starting fresh as from a second birth, Man, in the sunshine of the world's new Spring, Shall walk transparent like some holy thing.' INDEX 'Adherents to Divine Revela- tion,' 214, 259, 288-9, 305. Agriculture in Owen's 'model village' scheme, 119, 127-S, 138-9; Mr. Falla's experiments in spade culture, 136-7 ; A. J. Hamilton's experiment at Dalzell, 192; at Orbiston, 241, 270-2, 311. Ainsley, Archibald, 205, 302, 311, 318. Alton, Rev. John, on Owen's schemes, 78-9, 96. Allan, William, partner in New Lanark mills, 41, 84; distressed by Owen's religious views, 81 ; visits to New Lanark, 81-3, 164; his letter to Owen, 83. Anderson's House of Haiiiilion, 74. Arithmetic, teaching of, at New Lanark, 56- . Arkwright, Richard, invents spinning machine, 5 ; visits Scotland and meets David Dale, 7 j partnership in New Lanark mills, 8 ; belfry in- cident, 9-10. .\rmy, Owen and military training, 147. Association for the relief of the manu- facturing and labouring poor, 91. Atkinson, John, 39, 40. Austrian Princes at New Lanark, 69. 'Babylon,' nickname for Orbiston community, 213, 217, 309. Badger Inn at Ferniegair, 287-8. Bakery at Orbiston, 207, 208, 290, 292-3. Balfour, Rev. Mr., 26. Band, Instrumental, at New Lanark, 59, 66 ; at Orbiston, 235, 254. Bankhead farm, 183, 318. Baptist Church at Orbiston, 289. Bartons, Manchester, 23. Belhaven, Lord, 156, 157. Benefit Society at New Lanark, 33. Bentham, Jeremy, 41. Bible teaching in New Lanark schools, 56, 76, 84. Blantyre cotton mills, lo-ii ; village, etc., built, 12. Blessington, Earl, 176, 177. Bookbinding at Orbiston, 265. Bothwell Parish, congregation worships in Orbiston buildings, 318. Braxfield, 7, 31, 44, 65, 67. British and Foreign Philanthropic Society, 175, 177-8. Brougham, Lord, III, 176 ; supports Owen's schemes in Parliament, 121-2, 163. Brown, General, 176. Robert, 158. Buchanan, Jamie, teacher at New Lanark, 49, 61. Building customs, 210-2. Building trades at Orbiston, 233, 267, 273- Campbell, Alexander, joiner at Orbiston, 230, 246, 248, 299, 318; teacher, 278-80; actor, 285; social missionary, 3 1 5. Campbell, Colm, 216. Campbell, W. F., 57. Campbell, Messrs., partners in New Lanark, 39 ; opposed to Owen's educational schemes, 40, 42, 43. Canning opposes Owen's scheme in Parliament, 162-3. Canterbury, Archbishop of, 70, 91. Cartwright, Rev. E., inventor of power loom, 14. Cartwright-trade at Orbiston, 266. Carving and gilding at Orbiston, 266. Chalmers, Dr. Thomas, and poor reUef in Glasgow, 90-1. Chambers, William, 216. Character, books of, in New Lanark system, 35. Character and circumstances, Owen's ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM theory of, 28, 47-8, 149, 166, 175, 200, 251. Charlotte, Princess, of Prussia, 68. Child labour in cotton factories, 15, 52 ; David Dale employs pauper children, 16, 17-1S; Owen's policy, 27, 34, 50, 70, 122-3. Children at New Lanark, testimonies to happiness of, 17-18, 74-7; at Orbiston, 234, 277, 283 ; dormitory arrangements, 295-7. Chorlton spinning mills, 20, 22. Church of Scotland opposition to Owen's principles, 78-80. Coke of Holkham, 196. Combe, Abram, subscribes to A. J. Hamilton's scheme for a Lanark- shire community, 176; joins in form- ing Edinburgh ' Practical Society, 180; his tan-yard communism, 181-2; purchase of Orbiston estate, 183 ; his early history, 198; his character, 199-200, 307 ; influence of Owen, 200-1 ; his writings, 201, 205 ; edits Orbiston Register, 214 ; directs Or- biston affairs, 220, 225, 227, 232, 234, 237, 238, 254, 263, 277, 299, 305 ; attitude to proposed com- munism, 247-g ; gratitude of mem- bers, 255-6 ; his last illness and death, 201-3, 256, 306 ; self-chosen epitaph, 203 ; Orbiston failure leaves his widow and family destitute, 314- George, 181, 196, 241, 310, 312, 314- William, Orbiston trusteeship, 256, 299 ; leaves for America, 308, 313- 314- Combination Act, 89. Compton, inventor of the 'Mule,' 5. Co-operation, New Lanark pioneer store, 33 ; Edinburgh ' Practical Society,' 180-1. See also Villages of unity and mutual co-operation. Corporal punishment in schools, Owen's view of, 50, 53, 54. Cotton industry in Scotland, 4, 13-14, 36. Creighton, Sir Alexander, 66, 67. Crespigny, Sir W. de, Bart., 119, 121, 162, 176, 177. Crime, theoretical absence of, in Owen's ' model villages,' 146-7. See also Delinquents. Currency Question, 133-4. Communism, Abram Combe's tannery scheme, 18 1-2; at Orbiston, 239-97. Dairy Company at Orbiston, 233. Dale, Caroline, makes acquaintance of Robert Owen, 20, 21, 25 ; their marriage, 26 ; visits to New Lanark homes, 31 ; residence at Hamilton, 314- David, his early history, 3 ; suc- cess as linen merchant, 4 ; visits Falls of Clyde with Richard Ark- wright, 7 ; they build New Lanark cotton mills, 8 ; first mill burned — wages paid to idle workers, 8-9 ; difference with Arkwright, 9-10; sole owner of New Lanark, 10 ; builds Blantyre mills, 10 ; intro- duces ' Turkey Red ' dyeing there, 1 1 ; Highland workers for New Lanark, 14-15 ; employmentofpauper children, 16-17; his generosity, 17, 19 ; part in civic life of Glasgow, 19 ; lay preacher, 19 ; proposes to retire from New Lanark, 19-20 ; Robert Owen's attachment to his daughter, 21, 22, 25 ; Owen's proposal to pur- chase New Lanark mills, 22, 23 ; director of Royal Bank, 25 ; Rev. Mr. Balfour's observation at Owen- Dale marriage, 26. James, manager at New Lanark, 20, 29. Dancing in New Lanark schools, 51, 52. 59, 75. 77, 78-79, 82, 84. Daniel, John, teacher at New Lanark, 83- Dawson, Mr., M. P., 162. Delinquents, Mr. A. J. Hamilton's Motherwell scheme, 130, 131. Denham, Sir James Stewart, Bart., 126, 129. Denniston, Mr., 39. Druchan and Knox, 311. Douglass, Mrs., 317, 318. Drainage at Orbiston, 290-1. ' Drawing the Badger,' 287-8. Dress, in Owen's 'model village' scheme, 140- 1. See also Highland dress. INDEX Drill, in Owen's system of education, 52, 59-60, 75, 78-9, 82, 147-8. Edinburgh, early co-operative society in, 180-1. High School, 199. University, 196, 197. Edgeworth's Tales, Miss, 56. Education, Owen's theories applied at New Lanark, 37, 46-64 ; impres- sions of visitors, 72-7; a minister's strictures, 7S-9 ; Owen's trouble with his partners, 141-3 ; his ' model village' scheme, 141-3; Miss Whit- well's labours at Orbiston, 277-82. See also Evening Schools ; Infant Schools ; ' New Institution,' etc. EUerby, Mr. 313. Ellis, Mr., 117. Essays on the Formation of Character, 40, 70, 141, 200. Evening schools, at New Lanark, 17, 51 ; at Orbiston, 278. Falla, Mr., his experiments in spade culture, 136-7 ; subscribes to A. J. Hamilton's scheme, 176. Falls of Clyde, 7, 9. Famine of 179S, 19. Farmer^ s Register, 2S6. Fellenberg's schools, 63, 64. Fenner, Stephen, 24S ; on economic system at Orbiston, 263-5, 294-5. Ferrier, Mr., 19. Flax mill at Orbiston, 231, 319. Foster, Joseph, 41, 81, 82. Fox, Joseph, 41. Franklin, 170. Fraser, classical master in Edinburgh i High School, 199. Free education, 51, 86. Freemasons' Hall, London, 118. Fribourg, infant school at, 63. Funeral at Orbiston, description of a, 303- Gaelic Services at New Lanark, 120. Games in Owen's system of education, 50. Gardiner, Rev. Dr., 318. Gaswork at Orbiston, 275. General Assembly denounces Owen's principles, 78. Gentle Shepherd, The, produced at Orbiston, 284. Geography, teaching of, at New Lanark, 57- George IV. and his Queen, 195. Gibbs, Michael, 40, 82. Glasgow, dinner to Joseph Lancaster, 46-8 ; methods of poor relief, 90. Glasgow Chronicle, 1<)J. Free Press, 282. Herald, 41, 44. Golden Rule, Abram Combe and Orbis- ton principles, 215, 222, 256, Gordon, Col. Thomas, 126, 129. Grant, Mr., 242 ; Orbiston trusteeship, 305, 316. Greelc education, 63. Greyfriars' Wynci Church, Glasgow, 19. Hairdressing at Orbiston, 266. Hamilton, Duke of, 126. first Baron, of Dalzell, 198. Lord Archibald, supports Owen's schemes in Parliament, 121, 163. A. J., yr. , of Dalzell, proposes Motherwell establishment on Owen's principles, 129-31, 171-4; disciple of Owen, 157, 171, 180, 193, 195, 309 ; sells Orbiston estate to Abram Combe, 183; his history, 187-98; with the Scots Greys at Waterloo, 188-91 ; marriage, 192 ; his Repub- licanism, 193, 194 ; takes classes at Edinburgh University, 196 ; studies phrenology, 196-7 ; death of Mrs. Hamilton, 197; second marriage, 198 ; interest in Orbiston community, 239, 241, 243, 251, 252, 300, 307-8 ; his view of its failure, 309. Daniel, 198. General John, of Dalzell, 183, 205, 316; story of his marriage, 187-8; loses by Orbiston failure, 317, 31S. Sheriff, 126. meetings to consider Owen's schemes, 126-31, 154-60 ; A. J. Hamilton and proposed 'Bridewell,' 130, 131. Parish Band, 235. Hampshire, failure of Owen's establish- ment at Queenwood, 169. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Hargreaves, inventor of spinning-jenny, 5- Harmony Hall, 169. Hase, Henry, 176. Hals, Orbiston manufacture, 274-5. Hibernian Philanthropic Society, 165. Hicks, Robert, 230, 301. Highland dress, worn by New Lanark children, 75, 79 ; objections of Quaker partners, 82, 84. Hill and Son, 216. History, teaching of, at New Lanark, 58. Holstein, Duke of, 69. Hone, William, lOi. Honyman, SirW., Bart., 126, 129. Horticultural Company at Orbiston, 233- House of Commons. See Parliament. Housing reform at New Lanark, 30. Hunt, Henry, loi. Hunterj Colonel, 43. Hutton, J., 241, 291. Huxley, on Owen as an educationist, 64. Hymns of the 'New Harmony,' 245, 283. Industrial Revolution, The, 88. Infant schools. New Lanark school the first in Britain, 49, 86 ; Owen as pioneer of, 62-4. Intoxicants, Combe's rules for Orbiston community, 221. Ireland, Owen's visit leads to appoint- ment of Select Committee on Em- ployment of the Poor, 165-6. Iron foundry at Orbiston, 229-31, 267 ; its success, 232, 272-3. Jefferson, 170. 'Jericho,' nickname for Orbiston work- shops, 218. Jones, Henry, 176, 252, 300. Just, Baron, 69. Kelly, inventor of a spinning-jenny, 20. Kent, Duke of, his interest in Owen's schemes, 70, 170; letter to Owen, 116-8. Kilts. See Highland dress. King, James, contractor for Orbiston buildings, 207, 212, 317. Kirkpatrick, Henry, 239, 240. 326 Labour Exchanges, 169. -units as a standard of value, 133-4- Lamb, Mr., County Clerk of Lanark, 154. Lambe, J., 248 ; on the Orbiston mem- bers, 257, 258. Lanark Burghs, Owen's candidature 115, 116. Presbytery on Owen's principles, 79-80. Lanarkshire, Owen interests the county authorities in the distress problem, 125 ; meeting to consider his anti- poverty scheme, 126-9; A. J. Ham- ilton proposes a communistic ' Bride- well,' 130-1 ; Owen's Report to the County of Lanarky and his scheme for quadrangular villages, 132-53; Ham- ilton meeting decides to petition Parliament, 158-60; the county's independent attitude in George IV. affair, 195. Lancaster, Joseph, complimentary din- ner in Glasgow, 46-8. Lancasterian system of education, 37, 46-8, 51. Lauderdale, Lord, on Owen's schemes, 163. Leeds Guardians, visit to New Lanark, .74-7- Library at New Lanark, 84-6 ; at Orbiston, 286-87. Linen trade of Scotland, 2. Liverpool, Lord, 70, 90, 163, 172. Livingstone, David, 12. Lockhart, Sir Charles Macdonald, Bart. , 154. Norman, 126, 129, 154. London Co-operative Society, 184, 289. • Tavern, Owen's meetings in, loo- s' Londonderry, Lord, opposes Owen's scheme in Parliament, 162. Lowrie, Mr., 311. Lushington, Dr. , M. P. , opposes Owen's scheme in Parliament, 162. M'Gavin, Mr., 197. MacGregor, Alexander, 42. Macintosh, Sir James, 70. Macnab, Dr. H. G., his visit to New Lanark, 70-3, 287. INDEX MacQueen of Braxfield, Loid Chief- Justice, 8. Machinery, economic effects of, 88, 92. Malthusian theory, 66. Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 22 ; riots, 194. Maps, use of, at New Lanark, 49, 52, 58, 60. Market garden at Orbiston, 233. Marx, Karl, 320. Matthews, Dr., 187. Maxwell, John, M.P. for Renfrewshire, 156, 162, 176, 177. Meadowbank, Lord, 317. Meals, common, in Owen's scheme, 140; at Orbiston, 225, 226, 291-3. Medical inspection of scholars at New Lanark, 61. Mending of garments taught at New Lanark, 60. Merit-indicators, use of, at New Lan- ark, 35. Millennium, 169, 244-5. Monteith, Henry, 115. James, 11, 12. More's Utopia, 319. Morris, William, compared with Owen, 178-9- Morrison, J., 176' Mosman, Hugh, 126, 129, 154. Motherwell, proposed communistic estabHshment at, 130, 131, 171 ; Owen purchases estate of, 182. Motherwell Instrumental Band, 302. ' Mule ' spinning machine, 5. Music in Owen's system of educa- tion, 51, 52, 59, 75-7, 78, 84; at Orbiston, 244-5. Napoleon, 87, 188. Natural History, teaching of at New Lanark, 49, 57, 84. New Harmony, community in U.S.A., 166-8 ' New Institution,' Owen's New Lanark scheme, 37, 39, 51 ; the building described, 41 ; its opening, 46. New Lanark, Dale and Arkwright build mills at, 8 ; first mill burned, 8 ; Arkwright and the belfry, 9, 10; wrecked emigrants and Highlanders as labour supply, 14-15 5 pauper children, 16, 27 ; Dale's care of children's welfare, 17-18 ; Owens first visits, 20, 22 ; he negotiates purchase of mills, 22-4 ; and under- management, 27; workers opposed to his improvement schemes, 28 ; sanitary and moral reforms, 30-2 ; pioneer co-operative store, 33 ; check system for operatives, 34-5 ; educa- tion of youth and the ' New Institu- tion,' 37, 41, 46 ; partners opposed to Owen's schemes, 38, 39, 40 ; second company formed, 38 ; mills sold by public roup, 41-2; satisfac- tion of workers at Owen's repurchase, 43-5 ; visit of Grand Duke Nicholas, 65-9 ; Dr. Macnab's visit and report to Duke of Kent, 70-3 ; Leeds Guardians impressed with happiness of children, 74-7 ; clerical attacks on Owen, 78-9 ; partners alarmed by his religious views, 81-3; new agree- ment as to management, 83-4 ; Owen's resignation, 84, 85 ; testi- monies to his benevolent labours, 120, 128-9. New Lanark Twist Company, 25. New Views of Society . See Essays on the Formation of Character. Nicholas, Grand Duke, his visit to New Lanark 65-9 ; silver-plate incident, 67. O'Brikn, Captain, 176, 228; his influence at Orbiston, 258-60, 300 ; his boarding-school proposal, 260-2. Oberiin, and first infant schools, 62, 63. Oldenbury, Grand Duke of, 69. Orbiston company, purchase of Orbis- ton estate, 183; articles of agree- ment, 204-5 ! first meetings, 208-9, 218-20; bankruptcy, 316-17. Orbiston community, proposal to apply Owen's principles, iSo, 184 ; Abram Combe purchases Orbiston estate, 183, 204 ; scheme of buildings, 205-8, 218, 290 ; the first applicants, 209 ; untoward incidents, 210-13, 217-1S; buildings finished by members, 220, 223, 224 ; rules drawn up by Combe, 220-2; indiscriminate membership, 224 ; first Saturday night, 225 ; iron foundry and other companies formed, 231-3 ; Combe's anxiety as to morals ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM etc., 234-S ; stalislics, 235, 293, 303 ; agitation for communism, 239-53 ; evenings of ' sober con- viviality,' 244-5, 254 ; ballot for membership, 251 ; differences over equal distribution, 257-65 ; trade circular, 265-8; difficulties of partial communism, 269-72, 293-4 ; case of theft, 275-6 ; opening of schools, 277 ; moral training of youth, 278- 81 ; introduction of the drama, 284-5 ; leads to increase of reading, 286-7 ; religious services, 2S8-9 ; resumption of common meals, 291-3 ; leakage of food supplies, 294 ; difficulties over care of children, 295 ; break-up begins, 298 ; celebra- tion of second anniversary, 302 ; arrangements for visitors, 304 ; moral record of the community, 305 ; financial situation becomes embarrassing, 306 ; a return to individualism, 306 ; Combe's death, 307, 308 ; causes of failure, 309-10 ; disposal of estate, 316-7 ; buildings rased, 31S. Orbiston Mains, 1S3, 210, 237. Orbiston Press, 234, 265, 274. Orbiston Register, 185, 268, 298, 308 Abram Combe as editor, 214 ; first issue — difficulty with the book sellers, 214-7 ; printed at Orbiston 234 ; Henry Kirkpatrick as editor. 239 ; Stephen Fenner as editor, 294. Orchard at Orbiston, 271. Owen, Robert, visits to Glasgow and attachment to Miss Dale, 20, 21, '22, 23, 25 ; first impressions of New Lanark, 20-1 ; negotiates with Dale for purchase of mills, 22-4 ; manager of New Lanark Twist Company, 25 ; marries Miss Dale and describes the ceremony, 26 ; his plans of manage- ment at New Lanark, 26-9, 34 ; in- troduces sanitary and other reforms, 29-32 ; starts first co-operative store, 33 ; system of character registration, 35-6 ; pays wages during stoppage of mills and gains confidence of workers, 36 ; his theory of society and educa- tion, 37, 47-8, 53-5 ; plans for the 'New Institution,' 37, 39,41; diffi- .-.28 culties with partners, 38-40; silver salver presentation, 38 ; forms third partnership, 40-5 ; stipulates for free hand, 46; spoiled by his public re- putation as a reformer, 48-9 ; selects teachers for first national infant school, 49 ; his principles those of modern educational practice, 50, 51 ; his claim as pioneer of infant schools, 62-4 ; visit of Grand Duke Nicholas, 65-9 ; silver-plate incident, 67 ; Lon- don declaration on religion, 70; rouses opposition in Scottish Church, 79-80; alarm of partners, 81-2; new agreement, 83, 84 ; resigns manage- ment of New Lanark, 84-5 ; formu- lates his scheme for relief of distress, 91 ; proposed agricultural and manu- facturing villages, 93-6 ; Poor Law Committee rejects his scheme, 97 ; publishes his plans in the press, 98 ; meetings in London tavern, loo, 102; attacks all religious beliefs, 103-4; revises his 'model village' scheme, 105-10; and modifies attitude to religions, 112; his appeals to work- ing classes meet with no response, 112-15; seeks to enter Parliament, 115, 116; defeated by church influ- ence, 115; letters from Duke of Kent, 1 16-8; London committee takes up his scheme and issues appeal, 118-21; Parliament discusses his scheme, 121-2; his bill to regulate child labour, 122-3; ^I's village scheme considered by committee of Lanarkshire gentlemen, 125-9; pro- posed Motherwell experiment, 130, 131, 171-8, 182; takes economic standpoint in his Report to the County of Lanark, 132-52 ; proposes labour- units as standard of value, 133-5; agricultural villages and parallelo- grams, 138, 139 ; common meals and distinctive dress, 140; on the evolu- tion of the child, 141 ; on the new wealth, 142 ; circulation of the Re- port, 152; the author complimented by French Academy, 153 ; discussion with Glasgow professors, 160; Par- liament dismisses bis plans, 161-4; his visit to Ireland, 165 ; Select Com- mittee on Irish Poor on his prin- INDEX ciples, 166; visits U.S.A. and pur- chases New Harmony, 166 ; his dis- appointment with the community, 167-8 ; Texas scheme abandoned, i58 ; failure of Hampshire establish- ment, 169; preaching social salva- tion to the masses, 169 ; embraces Spiritualism, 169-70; hisdeath, 170 ; comparison with William Morris, 177-9; his attitude to Orbiston scheme, 184, 185, 309 ; his influence on A. J. Hamilton, 193, 195 ; father of modern Socialism, 319-20. Mrs. Robert. See Dale, Caroline. Robert Dale, 62, 64, 66, 68, 124, 166, 167. William, 64, 166. Paine, John, 291. Painting and glazing at Orbiston, 266. Pantisocraty, 309. Parallelograms. See Villages of unity and mutual co-operation. Parliament, House of Commons dis- cusses Owen's scheme, 121, 122 ; Lanarkshire petition, 159, 160, 161 ; discussion in both Houses, 162-4. aterson, Archibald, 3, 4. Paul, Alexander, 285 ; last stages of Orbiston community, 309, 316, 317, 318; letter to A. J. Hamilton, 310-4. Peel, Sir Robert, 119, 134. Pestalozzi, 56, 62, 63, 277. Phrenology, 181, 196-7. Pictet, Professor, 63. Plato's Republic, 310, 319. Poor Laws, Select Committee on the, 97- Poor Relief in Scotland, go, 91. ' Practical Society,' Edinburgh, 180-1. Printing at Orbiston. See Orbiston Press. QoEENWOOD Community. &« Hamp- shire. Ramsay, Allan, 284, 286. Rapp, George, 166. Rational System of Society, 28. Reading books in New Lanark schools, 56. Room at Orbiston, 286. Reid, John, 229, 248, 292. Religious education at New, Lanark. See Bil^le teaching. ■ sects, arrangement of, in Owen's ' model village' scheme, 109. services at New Lanark, 37, 51, 120 ; at Orbiston, 288-9. Report to the County of Lanark, 132, 14S, 150, 152. 154. 175- Rewards and punishments in education, Owen's view of, 54, 62. Ricardo, David, 119, 121, 165. Riddle, Sir J. B., M.P., 115. Rope-spinning at Orbiston, 274. Ross, Lady Mary, 117. Rousseau, 48, 50, 63, 319. "Lussia, Grand Duke Niche British Settlement in, 66. St. Augustine's City of God, 319. Sanitary reform, Owen's efforts at New Lanark, 30 ; advanced drainage system at Orbiston, 290-1. Savings Bank at New Lanark, 33. Saxony, King of, presents Owen with gold medal, 69. Schools, See Education ; Evening Schools ; Infant Schools ; New In- stitution.' Scots Greys at Waterloo, 188-91. Scott Moncrieff, Mrs., 25. Scottish Union Insurance Company, 205, 302, 311, 316, 318. Sewing, teaching of, at New Lanark, 52, 60, 76. Sheddon, William, butler, 67, 68. William, ironfounder, 229, 231, 248, 315. Shoemakingat Orbiston, 233, 265, 273. Shorter Catechism, 56, 198. Simpson, E., 242, 248, 303. Singing. See Music. Smith, Andrew, 245. John, M.P., 119, 121, 176. . William, baker at Orbiston, 289, 292-3. William, M.P., 162, 311, 316. Socialism, significance of New Lanark experiment, 86 ; Owen's Report to the County of Lanark, 132, 139-40; William Morrisand Robert Owencom- pared, 178-80; Orbiston community, 184, 224,318; modern Socialism, 319- 21. See also Communism. ADVENTURES IN SOCIALISM Socrates, 319. Soldiers Return, The, produced at Orbiston, 284-5. Spade husbandry. See Agriculture. Spiritualism, 169, 170. Standard of value, Owen proposes labour-units as, 133-5, 158. .S'^flr newspaper, 113. Steuart, Sir Henry, Bart., 126, 129, Sunday Evening Lectures at Orbiston, 281-3. whistling, Orbiston incident, 212-13. Sussex, Duke of, 119. Tailoring at Orbiston, 266, 273-4. Tambouring at Orbiston, 275. Tannahill, 284, 286. Tannery, Abram Combe's Edinburgh communistic experiment, 181-2. Temperance problem at New Lanark, 32, 33 ; at Orbiston, 221, 234. Theatre at Orbiston, 284-6. Theft of tools at Orbiston, 275-6. Times (London) on Owen's religious attitude, 79-80 ; Owen defends his 'model village ' scheme in, 98-1OO. Tinsmith work at Orbiston, 267. Tobacco smoking at Orbiston, 221-2, 279-80. Torrens, Major, lOI, 105, I19. Torrington, Lord, IlS, 176. Trade Unions, rise of, 89. Trades at Orbiston, 229, 233, 272-3 ; advertising circular, 265-8. ' Turkey Red ' dyeing, II. Unemployment, Owen's remediesfor. See Villages of unity and mutual co- operation. Union of Parliaments, economic effects of in Scotland, 2. U.S.A., Owen's visit to New Harmony, 166-8 ; Texas project, 168. Upholstery trade at Orbiston, 266. Victoria, Princess, 116. Villages of unity and mutual co- operation, Owen's remedies for un- employment, 93-6, 98-105; scheme rejected by Select Committee on Poor Laws, 97 ; his revised scheme, 105-10; his appeal to working classes fails, 1 10-14; London Com- mittee's appeal meets with small response, 1 19-21 ; scheme dismissed by the House of Commons, I2I-2; modified scheme in his Report to the Cotmiy of Lanark, 138-43 ; a parallelogram of buildings, 139-40; food and dress of members, 140-1 ; mode of government, 144-5 ; rela- tions with the nation and empire, 146-8. Waithman, Mr., loi, 104, 105. Walker, John, 41. Watch and clock-making at Orbiston, 266. Water supply at Orbiston, 290. Waterloo, Battle of, 87 ; A. J. Hamilton's account, 18S-91. Watson, William, 316, 318. Watt, James, 14. Weaving at Orbiston, 267, 274. Whitwell, Miss, teaches at New Lanark, 58, 84 ; teaches at Orbiston, 277, 280 ; her Sunday Evening Lectures, 281-3, 289. Wilberforce, William, 70, 121, 122. Wilson, William, turner at Orbiston, 230, 301, 302 ; opposes adoption of communism, 243, 244, 245. Women at New Lanark, oppose Oxven's improvements, 31 ; at Orbiston, support communism, 245- 46 ; their employments, 274-5. Wood-turning at Orbiston, 266. Wooler, Mr.. loi, 105. Woollen Industry in Scotland, 1. Writing, teaching of, at New Lanark, 56, 76. York, Duke of, 91. Young, Molly, teacher at New Lanark, 49, 61. Printed by T. and A. Const ablk, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press